Modern-Day Vikings: A Pracical Guide to Interacting with the Swedes (Interact Series)

Regarding the content of this book, it is succinct and quite well done. It covers history, socioeconomics, seasonal changes, communication, manners, business practices, and helps one understand the differences between the Swedish and American mentality. Having just returned from Sweden, I have a much better understanding of several unspoken behavioral and cultural mores. It is a good summary guide for beginners, and is quick and pleasant to read. However, if you are looking for an in depth and very detailed book on the history of Sweden, this is not the best source for you.This book came from Goodwill immediately, and although I expected it to be in used condition, it is exactly like a new book. I appreciate the work Goodwill does, so I will continue to return to them to order books in the future, and I hope others will too.

Informative book providing useful insight into the social, personal, and professional behavior and beliefs of the Swedes, especially in relation to how those are similar or different to American ones. At its core, this book is--as its title suggests--intended to be a practical guide, so the prose tends toward the dry, but the advice, facts, and analysis provided in it are all helpful. To be read more for education or practical purposes than for leisure but it accomplishes--with more simplicity than style--what it sets out to do.

A book withmany facts that need many years to understand! I have lived in Sweden since 2002 and still read about Swedes who are not easy to understand and have read some books on the subject but this is one of the best that I have also recommended to my Swedish friends.

My daughter met a Swedish man about 10 years ago and she has now lived in Sweden for 8 years. They are getting ready to have their second child. I have made it my mission to learn everything I can about Sweden and Swedish culture so as not to offend him or his family and my grandchildren, although after all this time I've probably already said or done something to offend him without being aware. The book is so good that I've begun lending it to family members so they will try to be more considerate when he and my daughter come to visit. It covers every possible area of Swedish life: politics, geography, customs, holidays, workplace considerations, etc. If you have Swedish relatives or friends, work with Swedes, either in the U.S. or Sweden, or just have a love of all things Scandinavian, I highly recommend this book.

My former wife was born in Sweden and immigrated with her parents to this country when she was 9 years old. Married 8 years, Lena was continually questioning why she viewed the world in certain ways while others couldn't see things the same way. The insights in this book got her thinking about what was special in her Swedish upbringing and why she was taught to look at some subjects differently. Reward systems, her acceptance of certain conflicts and her questioning mind were revealed to her as a result of reading this book. Since then, I have purchased an additional copy to share with a colleague recently hired by a Swedish company and Lena has given her Dad a copy. A must read for both Swedes and Americans who interact with Swedish people.

I spent a few days in Sweden a couple of years ago while on vacation in Scandinavia.(I spent more time in Denmark and Norway.) Anyhow, I fell in love with all three countries and I want to visit Sweden again. This book helped my understand Sweden's delightfully quirky customs and gave me a better understanding of this nation's history. I should also say that I am strongly in favor of Sweden's social democracy and wish that the United States took as good care of its people as Sweden does. I really enjoyed the book.

This book was so full of great information, I read parts of it twice. It was thorough and the information was extremely helpful as to understanding the people I met in Sweden. They appreciated the fact that I "had done my homework" before I arrived in Stockholm. It was really great to see some of the scenerios that this book presented actually play out in life, very cool. I am happy to highly recommend this book to anyone who will be spending time in Sweden. While in flight, I was reviewing some of the chapters and a man across the aisle caught a glimpse of the title and asked me about his friends who were from Sweden. His questions were addressed in this book so I just lent it to him for about 10 minutes and he had a big smile on his face and expressed his gratitude for helping him to understand them better. Thanks so very much!

Nice review of the Swedish society and their idionsincracy. The author compares many situations with North American culture, so the book is meant for them, not for Europeans (in general). But the reading is enjoyable and the book is well written. I liked it.

As someone who grew up in Sweden, but who has lived elsewhere for 30-40 years, I found this fascinating. Clearly many of my values and attitudes are marked by my part Swedish roots. I have just finished reading this the day after the Swedish national day, and yesterday I saw many comments from Swedes about how Sweden is the best and all should be done to spread the model elsewhere. That attitude prevails. No comment that they can also learn from others. The other side of the coin was the comment in this book, near the end, how Swedes are learning from others and becoming more flexible. This was in particular vis-vis American workplaces. But the authors failed to comment that maybe American workplaces could also benefit from learning something from Swedes. That was an irritation to me.

A fun book which covers most of the little cultural oddities that you might experience moving to Sweden, which I did about 8 months ago. I found it to be fairly light and comical as suggested by the book's title and did enjoy reading it although it was required for a course I studied on. As for how accurate the information is, that's really down to the individual Swedes you encounter, although it gives a good generalisation of the culture, definitely. I give the book 4/5 because it was enjoyable and covered what it said it would, but it wouldn't be very interesting to someone who didn't have a reason to be learning about Swedes.

A wonderful insight to the Swedish way of approaching life, work etc. Very much enjoyed

Excellent, very informative and well written

This book is easy and entertaaining to read. It is refreshingly unbiased and allows you to make up your own mind about the value/restrictions of the rules of Jante etc. You have a much better chance of understanding and appreciating Swedish culture after reading this book.