Hotel Kämp: a History of one of Helsinki’s most famous Hotels Built originally in 1887 by the restaurateur Carl Kämp (1848-1889) as a luxurious hotel, and designed by the architect Theodor Höijer (1843-1910), Hotel Kämp is in an ideal location in central Helsinki. At the time of its opening and into … Continue reading
Finnish Air Force 1939-45 by Kalevi Keskinen & Kari Stenman This is a short (64 page) book but with the large format, there is a lot of content. It’s short on verbage (a 1 page written introduction that’s a history of aircraft acquisitions – this book assumes that if you’re … Continue reading
Winter War Forgotten Images by Bair Irincheev “Winter War Forgotten Images” is a collection of unpublished images from the Soviet-Finnish Winter War of 1939-40. The book is 190 pages, hardcover and contains a unique collection of mostly unpublished photos many of them from the old Soviet archives, bunker blueprints and … Continue reading
Frozen Hell – The Legend and the Tragedy of Raate Road by Mika Kulju – the first book in English that covers the Battle of Raate Road in real detail If you’re interested in the Winter War that was fought between the Soviet Union and Finland starting in late November 1939, then … Continue reading
The Unknown Soldier (Tuntematon Sotilas) by Väinö Linna The Unknown Soldier (Tuntematon Sotilas), first published in 1954, was author Väinö Linna’s (1920-1992) first major novel and, whilst almost unknown in the English-speaking world, is, in Scandinavia, widely recognized as among the greatest novels of the twentieth century. In Finland, a … Continue reading
“Born a Soldier: The Times and Life of Larry Thorne” by J. Michael Cleverley Again, this is a book I read and reviewed on Amazon some years ago when it saw its first US publication. “Born A Soldier” is a truly enthralling biography of an outstanding Finnish-born special forces soldier who … Continue reading
Purge (Puhdistus) by Sofi Oksanen Having first read Purge some years ago and posted a review on Amazon, I thought I’d go back, re-read it and edit and repost my review here. And yes, I still think Sofi Oksanen’s bestselling novel Purge is a masterpiece, and I don’t say that lightly. It’s … Continue reading
Georg Malmstén Finnish singer Georg Malmstén was born in Helsinki in June 1902. He would go on to become a popular entertainer in Finland and arguably one of the most important influences on Finnish popular music in the 1930’s and 1940’s. As well as singing, he composed music for film, … Continue reading
Arto Sotavalta Arto Sotavalta (his full name was Arto Arvo Juhani Sotavalta, 7 January 1950, Helsinki, Finland – March 6, 1990) was a Finnish pop singer who had a number of hits and was popular in the 1960’s and 1970’s. Arto Sotavalta formed his first band, “The Rattle Sound Five”, in 1964 when he was 14. He was … Continue reading
Helsinki Island Restaurants With 100 kms of coastline and an archipelago of some 330 islands within the city boundaries, Helsinki is a maritime city that takes full advantage of its location on the Gulf of Finland. A unique component of Helsinki’s restaurant culture are the Helsinki island restaurants that can … Continue reading
Suomenniemi Museums The Municipality of Suomenniemi is near the town of Mikkeli and is part of the South Savo region within South Karelia. Suomenniemi museums are two in number, the Lyytikkälä Museum Farm (open over the Summer months) and the Nikkinen Cottage (note that the Nikkinen Cottage is only open on … Continue reading
The architectural heritage of South Karelia South Karelian landscapes The present-day region of South Karelia consists of ten municipalities (Imatra, Lappeenranta, Lemi, Luumäki, Parikkala, Rautjärvi, Ruokolahti, Savitaipale, Suomenniemi and Taipalsaari) which, geographically speaking, form part of the southeastern fringe of Lakeland Finland. This is a varied landscape, with great variations … Continue reading
