1947: Mistä historiamme alkaa?

1947: Mistä historiamme alkaa?

2016 • 297 pages

Ratings1

Average rating4

15

Originally I felt this could be one of the best books I've read this year, but that feeling didn't last. I still think Åsbrink writes really well and I like the style this book is written in: it covers big things in history, but at a very human level. The workings of the Palestinian committee and the division of the India had very long-lasting results, reverberations of which are still felt today.

But in the end I felt the scope of the book was too small. It was, in a fairly unusual combination, quite Jewish and Swedish. Very understandable, considering the perspective the author writes from, but it also leaves out a lot. A wider lens, and perhaps less focus on Swedish nazis, would've made the book even better.

But as it is, 1947 is still a great read, and a good way to learn something interesting about a significant year 70 years ago.