The Challenge of Scandinavia

This Scandinavian community is a challenging society, as Mr. Shirer sees it. The book is full of information on history, geography, religion, politics, the Labor Movement, why the Scandinavians vote "Labor," and a host of other interesting subjects, all impartially reported on. Mr. Shirer expresses deep admiration for these people of the North. These countries he found were "neither Utopias nor social paradises," but genuine workable democracies. And by democratic processes and the Scandinavian's ardor for "team-work" the united effort of these ununited countries has succeeded in giving their people without exception "a fair opportunity to live a life of some meaning both in and beyond the daily toil for a living, relieving some of the needless wear and tear and fear that saps the human spirit in so many other countries." He has interviewed innumerable persons from King Haakon VII to ordinary human beings, each contributing to the making of a very readable book. There is an impressive list of source material, some of which is highly subjective, as the author himself acknowledges.