\New Swedish Books, spring 2019 1
43 Spring 2019 Trees. A Walk through the Swedish
Forest No visitor to Sweden can fail to notice that it is a land of pine and fir – a dense evergreen expanse that merges into the immense taiga of the far north. Gunnar Wetterberg’s Trees. A Walk through the Swedish Forest reminds its readers that this has not always been the case. Less than 150 years ago, farming required a constant battle against invasive trees for the meagre soil needed for grazing. In the mid 19th century, however, the world’s insatiable hunger for timber and pulp changed the role of the forest, from farmer’s nemesis to gold mine. The wealth of the forests was pivotal in Sweden’s transformation from impoverished nation to welfare state. Wetterberg is a forester as well as an author and historian. His relationship to trees is partially learned cultural and economic history, and partially the intimacy fostered by years of caring for tender pines and shallow-rooted firs against the ravages of moose and storm. Gunnar Wetterberg (b. 1953) Trees. A Walk through the Swedish Forest, 351 p. Publisher Albert Bonniers Förlag www.albertbonniersförlag.se Rights Albert Bonniers Förlag Åsa Ernflo Asa.ernflo@ albertbonniersförlag.se Works Axel Oxenstierna. Makten och klokskapen, 2010 Wallenberg. Ett familjeimperium, 2013 Skånes historia 1–3, 2016-2017 Selected Awards Samfundet De Nios Särskilda pris, 2009 Hedersdoktor vid humanistiska fakulteten vid Lunds universitet, 2009 John Landquists pris, 2017 Photo: Nille Leander