In the closing days of the 20th century, author Daniel Pawley discovered a Norwegian-American immigrant’s diary from a century earlier while browsing for old books at a Minnesota garage sale. With fascination, he read the diary from cover to cover, turned the experience into a prize-winning magazine article, and then filed it away in memory. More than two decades later, however, as an immigrant himself, from America to Portugal, he rediscovered the diary and his original notes, marveling at topics and themes all immigrants have in common. Both the excitement and insecurity of transitioning to a new culture and way of life stood out to him, even though the original diary told the story of a man whose life was characterized by far greater problems experienced by immigrants to America in earlier times. The daily torture of pre-labor-union industrial life, as well as the tragedies of family rearing amid poor economic conditions, stand out in this regard, raising questions about America’s past, present, and perhaps future, too. This is a story worth revisiting by all who have interests in America or immigration and by anyone who has felt trapped by circumstances but energized by life-changing journeys of hope and promise.
Norway Diary begins with a once-in-a-lifetime invitation to attend the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo in 2019. Sundeep Bhutoria travels from India to witness the inspiring event set against the backdrop of the winter wonderland that is Norway in December. He seizes the opportunity to lay the groundwork for future collaborations to promote Indian art and culture, while learning about the thriving Indian diaspora in the Nordic nation.
This is the second book in a series of two, covering the events at sea during the German invasion of Norway in 1940, the first modern campaign in which sea, air and ground forces interacted decisively. Part one covers the events at sea off southern and western Norway where Norwegian and British forces attempted to halt the German advance out of the invasion ports as well as the stream of supplies and reinforcements across the Skagerrak. The second part focuses on the British landings in Central Norway where the Royal Navy for the first time had its mastery challenged by air superiority from land-based aircraft. Part three covers the events in and around Narvik where Norwegian, British, French and Polish naval, air and land forces were engaged in the first combined amphibious landings of WW II. Part four sums up the events during the evacuation in June, in which the first carrier task force operations of the war, including the loss of the carrier Glorious, figure prominently. As in the first volume, the narration shifts continuously between the strategic and operational issues, and the experiences of the officers and ratings living through the events. Extensive research and use of primary sources reveals the many sides of this war, some of which remain controversial to this day.
In 1942 Norwegian Odd Nansen was arrested by the Nazis, and he spent the remainder of World War II in concentration camps—Grini in Oslo, Veidal above the Arctic Circle, and Sachsenhausen in Germany. For three and a half years, Nansen kept a secret diary on tissue-paper-thin pages later smuggled out by various means, including inside the prisoners' hollowed-out breadboards. Unlike writers of retrospective Holocaust memoirs, Nansen recorded the mundane and horrific details of camp life as they happened, "from day to day." With an unsparing eye, Nansen described the casual brutality and random terror that was the fate of a camp prisoner. His entries reveal his constantly frustrated hopes for an early end to the war, his longing for his wife and children, his horror at the especially barbaric treatment reserved for Jews, and his disgust at the anti-Semitism of some of his fellow Norwegians. Nansen often confronted his German jailors with unusual outspokenness and sometimes with a sense of humor and absurdity that was not appreciated by his captors. After the Putnam's edition received rave reviews in 1949, the book fell into obscurity. In 1956, in response to a poll about the "most undeservedly neglected" book of the preceding quarter-century, Carl Sandburg singled out From Day to Day, calling it "an epic narrative," which took "its place among the great affirmations of the power of the human spirit to rise above terror, torture, and death." Indeed, Nansen witnessed all the horrors of the camps, yet still saw hope for the future. He sought reconciliation with the German people, even donating the proceeds of the German edition of his book to German refugee relief work. Nansen was following in the footsteps of his father, Fridtjof, an Arctic explorer and humanitarian who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1922 for his work on behalf of World War I refugees. (Fridtjof also created the "Nansen passport" for stateless persons.) This new edition, the first in over sixty-five years, contains extensive annotations and new diary selections never before translated into English. Forty sketches of camp life and death by Nansen, an architect and talented draftsman, provide a sense of immediacy and acute observation matched by the diary entries. The preface is written by Thomas Buergenthal, who was "Tommy," the ten-year-old survivor of the Auschwitz Death March, whom Nansen met at Sachsenhausen and saved using his extra food rations. Buergenthal, who later served as a judge on the International Court of Justice at The Hague, is a recipient of the 2015 Elie Wiesel Award from the US Holocaust Memorial Museum.
Den svenske forfatter Astrid Lindgrens (1907-2002) personlige skildring af krigens gang både ude i verden og i Sverige, hvor man får et unikt indblik i dagligdagen i Lindgren-familien
In this evocative memoir, traversing more than three decades, the author recounts a life moulded through his experiences as a refugee, and then cab driver, and finally, the domain of academia as a professor in Norway. Much ink has been spilled, and careers - both academic and political - piggybacked, on writing about refugees, non-western minorities, integration, and the purported threat they face to western culture. Seldom are refugees given a voice to articulate their own perspectives. This memoir is the voice of the subaltern inspired by the postcolonial genre of the empire writing back. Personal reflections are intertwined with critical analysis in offering a distinctive outlook on the challenges and successes confronting people of colour. On a deeper level, the memoir is crafted as a "no holds barred" navigational tool for minoritized youth caught in the crossfire of political and social skullduggery. "A Somali-Norwegian Saga: My Journey from Refugee to Cab Driver to Professor", weaves sociological theories into the narrative and serves as a call to broaden and accommodate new and emerging hybrid identities in what has been called the "browning" of the western demographic, openly addresses the conflicts posed by certain minority cultural practices misaligned with universal democratic ideals, and ultimately suggests that success is within reach despite the enormous hurdles. It is a tribute to the fortitude and resilience of countless, nameless refugees who took on the challenges of being outsiders and enriched the diverse fabric of Norwegian society.
This book examines Delius's individual approaches to genre, form, harmony, orchestration and literary texts which gave the composer's musical style such a unique voice.
This is the first volume of Nigel West's acclaimed presentation of these fascinating diaries from the heart of Britain's Second World War intelligence operations. 'No intelligence buff can be without this volume and anyone interested in British twentieth century history needs it too.' M.R.D. Foot, The Spectator 'Regarded by historians as the most important military intelligence documents from the whole of the Second World War.' Irish Independent '[A] unique insight into the espionage secrets of the Second World War. Its historical importance is enhanced by the editing of Nigel West who, apart from decoding several obscure references to the secret war, persuaded the Security Service to break their rule of maintaining an agent's anonymity.' BBC History Magazine WALLFLOWERS is the codename given to one of the Security Service's most treasured possessions, the daily journal dictated from August 1939 to June 1945 by MI5's Director of Counter Espionage, Guy Liddell, to his secretary, Margo Huggins. The document was considered so highly classified that it was retained in the safe of successive Directors General, and special permission was required to read it. No other member of the Security Service is known to have maintained a diary and the twelve volumes of this journal represent a unique record of the events and personalities of the period, a veritable tour d'horizon of the entire subject. As Director, B Division, Liddell supervised all the major pre-war and wartime espionage investigations, maintained a watch on suspected pro-Nazis and laid the foundations of the famous 'double cross system' of enemy double agents. He was unquestionably one of the most reclusive and remarkable men of his generation, and a legend within his own organization.
