Sweden and the Swedes
William Widgery Thomas
Paperback
(Forgotten Books, Aug. 12, 2012)
I p Tis now nearly thirty years ago since I first set foot in Sweden. I came as consnl to Gothenburg one of tlie thirty war consuls sent out by A braham Lincoln. It was here I first learned to know what a noble, generous, hospitable race the Swedes really are the worthy descendants of the soldiers of Gustavus A dolphus and the boys in blue of Charles XII. On my return to America it grieved me to find how little my countrymen knew of the Swedes, and it became one of the chief aims of my life to make their name and fame better understood in my native land. This result I endeavored to accomplish by means of lectures, magazine and newsjaper articles, and translations; but I was deterred from publishing a completed work on Sweden and the Swedes for fear I could not do them justice. In the meanwhile a vast and increasing number of Swedish immigrants were arriving on our shores and settling among us. Indeed it would seem that the Scandinavian, together with the English, I rish, and German are the four great races A vhose intermingling will chiefly make up the ne Avdistinctive race of the United States of the future. The need, therefore, of a better understanding of this people is ever growing. During the same time fortune continued to favor me with exceptional and extraordinary opportunities for acquiring a knowledge of these Northmen.(Typographical errors above are due to OCR software and don't occur in the book.)About the Publisher Forgotten Books is a publisher of historical writings, such as: Philosophy, Classics, Science, Religion, History, Folklore and Mythology.Forgotten Books' Classic Reprint Series utilizes the latest technology to regenerate facsimiles of historically important writings. Careful attention has been made to accurately preserve the original format of each page whilst digitally enhancing the aged text.