A History of Finland

xv, 548 pp. A history of Finland from its beginnings to the present day. Following an introductory chapter that establishes the geographical, social, and political background of Finland today, the author opens his survey with the Middle Ages and goes on to describe some of the main aspects of Finland's position during the many centuries before the nineteenth when the country was an integral part of the Swedish realm. Succeeding chapters offer a summary of the decades between 1809 and 1917 when Finland was an autonomous constitutional state in union with Russia. Detailed attention is given to the attainment of independence in 1917-18, the growth of the republic in 1919-39, Finland's involvement in World War II, and the consequences of the war. The last several chapters delineate, in broad outline, the development of the nation since 1945.--jacket