Other Books on Swedish America
This page contains a selection of books about various aspects of Swedish America.
Non-fiction
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En Amerikabok - An American Book by Alf Brorson
Alf Brorson’s interactions with North America began with a visit in
1989, during which he taught an American Studies course at the
University of Minnesota. Since then, he has traveled extensively
throughout the United States and Canada, recording his impressions of
North America and Swedish America along the way. En Amerikabok – An America Book is
a collection of previously unpublished articles and letters in a
wonderful mix of English and Swedish that anyone with an interest in
Swedish America will enjoy.
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History
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Essays on Scandinavian History by H. Arnold Barton
Essays on Scandinavian History (Southern Illinois University
Press, 2009) presents accounts of several Swedish rulers including Carl
XII, Gustav III, and Gustav IV Adolf. Reprinted in this volume is H.
Arnold Barton’s first printed essay “Sweden and the War of American
Independence.” This article clearly describes the numerous ways in which
Sweden was affected by the American Revolution, and how the parallel
activity in Europe and Sweden served to shape relations between North
America and Sweden.
Available at Amazon.
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The Old Country and the New: Essays on Swedes and America by H. Arnold Barton
In The Old Country and the New (Southern Illinois University
Press, 2007), H. Arnold Barton examines important topics including
emigration and relations between North America and Sweden from the
mid-1600s through the post-war era. The selection of essays provides
scholars and lay readers alike an interesting overview of the Nordic
region, particularly of Sweden. One essay included, originally presented
in Swedish in Personhistorisk tidskrift, recounts the
connections between Sweden and the United States forged by William
Widgery Thomas Jr. during the late 1800s and early 1900s.
Available at Amazon.
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The Man Who Made the Monitor: A Biography of John Ericsson, Naval Engineer by Olav Thuselius
John Ericsson, inventor and engineer, was born in 1803 at
Långbanshyttan in Värmland, Sweden. Invited to build his design for a
screw-propelled ship, Ericsson moved to New York in 1839, where he
remained for the rest of his life. He is best remembered for designing
the Civil War ironclad warship, the Monitor.
In The Man Who Made the Monitor (McFarland & Company,
2007), Olov Thulesius explores the breadth of Ericsson’s inventions from
his earliest engraving machine to his visionary work in the field of
solar energy. Thulesius’s biography will engage all readers, as they
come to better know this Swedish-American, who is memorialized with
statues in Washington, D.C. and Gothenburg, Sweden.
Available at Amazon.
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Birger Sandzén on Art, Music and Transcendance by James M. Kaplan
Birger Sandzén, a Swedish immigrant artist who came to America in 1894, is considered one of the great American landscape artists of the first half of the twentieth century. But besides being a great colorist who exulted in the rich and vibrant colors of the American West, Sandzén was also a respected author in the lively Swedish-American press around the turn of the last century.
In Birger Sandzén on Art, Music and Transcendence, published by Nordic Studies Press, Dr. James M. Kaplan of Minnesota State University Moorhead has brought to life a brief cultural Camelot in America when immigrant artists, musicians and authors, nourished by the culture of the Old World, were stimulated in their craft by the exciting New World they had found in America.
Available at nordicstudiespress.com.
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Zorn in America: A Swedish Impressionist of the Gilded Age by William and Willow Hagans
Anders Zorn, born in 1860, is one of Sweden's most well-known
artists, known for his skill in painting, etching, sculpting and
printmaking. In America, between 1893 and 1911, he was one of the most
sought-after portrait artists, crafting likenesses of prominent figures
like Grover Cleveland, William Taft, Theodore Roosevelt and Andrew
Carnegie. Zorn in America: A Swedish Impressionist of the Gilded Age (The
Swedish-American Historical Society, 2009) traces Zorn's seven trips to
America and the over 100 works that he created on his journeys.
Available at The Swedish-American Historical Society .
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The Journey Takers by Leslie Albrecht Huber
Journey Takers (Foundation Books, 2010) is the story of one
woman who, through years of extensive genealogical research and travel,
sets out to document and understand the lives of her ancestors who
emigrated from Germany, England and Sweden - the journey takers. She
examines the way these journeys have shaped her own life, and finds
parallels between the long-ago lives of her ancestors and her own - most
notably, through their shared values of family and faith.
Available at familychronicle.com.
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Swedish Oregon by Lars Nordström
Compiled and Edited by Lars Nordström, Swedish Roots In Oregon Press, 2008. Swedes began filtering into the Oregon Territory with the first wave of white settlers. At first, their numbers grew slowly, but after 1883, when the railroad connected Portland to the national grid, the flow accelerated. By 1910, the Swedes were the second-largest foreign-language immigrant group in the state. The influx diminished by the end of the 1920s, and ever since Swedish immigration to Oregon has been a tiny but steady trickle. Compiling wide-ranging material — some of it never before translated into English, and none of it ever collected and introduced - Swedish-American author Lars Nordström invites the reader on a fascinating journey through the Swedish history of the state of Oregon from the late 1800s into the 21st century.
Available at Lars Nordström's website. |
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Ten New Lives by Lars Nordström
Ten New Lives (Swedish Roots In Oregon Press, 2011) sheds new light on a rarely studied subject: Swedish immigration to the United States following the Vietnam War. While journalists in Sweden and Swedish-America have occasionally written articles about prominent Swedish diplomats, entrepreneurs, athletes and people in the arts, no one has previously delved into the many complexities that underlie everyday immigration. In the in-depth narratives, five men and five women tell their stories of how they came to leave their native country and settle in the Pacific Northwest. In the course of these stories, the reader will discover some of the most common and recurring patterns of the contemporary Scandinavian immigrant experience.
Available at Lars Nordström's website.
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Chicago Swedes: They spoke from the heart by Lilly Setterdahl
Chicago Swedes is a collection of 340 short stories and 300
accompanying photos that tell the stories of Swedes who emigrated and
made their lives in Chicago. Each story is just a snippet, giving a
brief window into the person's life, but taken together, they offer a
picture of emigrant life in Chicago, particularly during the years of
the Great Depression. The stories are summaries of oral interview
completed by the author;s husband over the course of four decades, and
each lists the location of the original interview record.
Available at Amazon.
Lilly Setterdahl began
her writing career by writing research articles about the Swedish emigration to
America and she is now the author of 13 nonfictions books about Swedes and
Swedish Settlements. For more
information visit her homepage here .
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Diatonisk & the Dulcimer by Nils R. Caspersson
This is a 35 page full color book presenting the Swedish origin of the fretted dulcimer documented from 1526 in central Sweden to the present. Includes a cd w/ video of Swedish fiddle tunes played on the spelmäner, a fretted dulcimer w/ 4 interior sympathetic strings. Original photos taken in Sweden show traditions that sparked the development of the fretted dulcimer more than any other immigrant culture.
For more information visit Nils R. Caspersson's homepage here .
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Fiction
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Öresund Bridge by Jeannine Dahlberg
Öresund Bridge (Author House, 2010) is the third novella in a
series about Seth Coleman, an architect, and Rachel Ramsey, his wife.
In the book, set in 1958, Seth travels to Sweden to give a lecture at
Lund University. While there, he runs into a Swedish friend from his
college days, Fritz Dahl, who is involved in a top secret project - the
design of what will eventually become the Öresundsbron, a bridge
connecting Malmö, Sweden with Copenhagen, Denmark. But Seth is not the
only one interested in the blueprints Fritz is carrying - corporate
pirates are trying to steal the unpatented plans.
Available at Amazon.
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Tina, An Immigrant's Story by Ralph Ekwall
Tina, An Immigrant's Story is the story of Amelia Albertina
"Tina" Holmgren, who left Sweden in 1875 with her family and settled in
Rockford, Illinois. Although there are fictional elements to the tale,
most of the events and characters are factual. Life was not easy for an
immigrant in a new land, and the book follows Tina through the
adventures of marriage, blizzards, raising children, tornadoes and love
and loss.
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Poetry
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The Procession of Memories: Selected Poems 1929 – 1945 by Harry Martinson
English and Swedish. 2009. A series of poems by Nobel Prize winning author Harry Martinson presented in the original Swedish and translated into English by by Lars Nordström.
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Other Books on Swedish America. . . . . . . .
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