A funny fearless tour behind Scandinavia's polished image. Michael Booth has long been
perplexed by strange paradoxes and character traits of the people of his adopted homelands -
and equally bemused by the unquestioning enthusiasm for all things Nordic and hygge that has
engulfed the rest of the world. From his home in Denmark he travels through Norway Sweden
Finland and Iceland to uncover the truth behind the myth of the happiest people on Earth. Along
the way a more nuanced often darker picture emerges of a region plagued by taboos
characterised by suffocating parochialism and populated by extremists of various shades. Part
travelogue part social investigation and wholly entertaining Booth asks tough questions
about what happiness really means how culture shapes wellbeing and what the rest of the world
can - and can't - learn from the North. 'The next Bill Bryson' New York Times 'Beautifully
observed and very funny' Rory Stewart 'Comprehensive and occasionally downright hilarious'
Mariella Frostrup Observer
