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A saga spanning a thousand years, central to the story of Europe We pass through the legendary castles of Elsinore and Halsingborg to enter the Baltic world. From early Viking days and then under the Byzantine empire, the Baltic was always much more than Europe's backwater, and in medieval times the area was an important trading ground. Each individual country developed separately, but then in the late 17th and early 18th centuries came the sole attempt to create a unified Baltic Empire based in Sweden. However, with the rise of Russian influence, this came apart and Russia expanded her empire in the region, annexing Finland, to be followed by the Prussianising of the Polish provinces. Great national sentiment grew in all Baltic states, and a high cultural level was achieved - both musically and in literature.… (more)
User reviews
The focus is primarily on the political / dynastic and military history, although good, if brief coverage is also given to the geography of the region and discussion of economic history and trade is given ample attention. Perhaps the content is a bit lacking in linguistic and cultural history, although the description of the role played by musical tradition in keeping suppressed national consciousness alive was interesting to learn about.
I have read a few other books about the WW2 and post-war history of eastern Europe, which meant that I wasn't quite as glued to the later chapters as I might otherwise have been, but this material is also covered very well.
This is the second history of a sea that I've read - 'The Black Sea: a History' by Charles King being the other - and I highly recommend each. The concept works really well.