I'm trying to find a history book which covers the history of Finland. While I have narrowed it down to a select few, I'm struggling to find the right one, particularly as there is very few customer reviews of the books and book previews being limited to what they show.
My main concern is for a book with a well structured writing style (along the lines of Wikipedia articles) which concisely covers the history of Finland from the early days to the 'present', whenever the book was published).
These are the books which I have narrowed it down to:
- A History of Finland by Henrik Meinander – While decently written, a couple of reviewers on Good Reads claim this book doesn't cover much on the Sami people, particularly their relationship with the Finnish government (with one claiming that it is "colonialist" and "nationalist". A couple of reviewers claim that the Civil War is brushed over a couple of pages.
- The History of Finland by Jason E. Lavery – This appears to be the best written. Though I'm hesitant as to whether the 200-page-long size of this means many details would be left out, particulalry as 2/3 of it covers 1800-2000 (unless there is not much on pre-modern Finland). An Amazon reviewer claims it is "too light detail on the Russian-German-Finland interactions and fighting leading up to and during WWII".
- A Concise History of Finland by David Kirby – Reviewers say it focuses too much on the politics and less on economic/social, which I am not sure is going to be an issue or not as history is mostly based on and driven by politics. I'm generally sceptical of the writing style of many Cambridge Concise Histories where it is sometimes hard to follow (though I cannot tell if this one will be different).
Does anyone advise which one of these books is the best on Finnish history? If anyone has had a read of these books, what is your take on them? Thanks
by Laurence-Ellis