Read Ebook {PDF EPUB} Krigsdagböcker 1939-1945 by Astrid Lindgren War diaries 1939-1945 = Before she became internationally known for her Pippi Longstocking books, Astrid Lindgren was an aspiring author living in Stockholm with her family at the outbreak of the Second World War. The diaries she kept throughout the hostilities offer a civilian"s, a mother"s, and an aspiring writer"s unique account of the devastating conflict. She emerges as a morally courageous critic of violence and war, as well as a deeply sensitive and astute observer of world affairs. We hear her thoughts about rationing, blackouts, the Soviet invasion of Finland, and the nature of evil, as well as of her personal heartbreaks, financial struggles, and trials as a mother and writer. Edition Notes. Other titles Astrid Lindgren : Statement Astrid Lindgren ; translated from the Swedish by Sarah Death ; with a foreword by Karin Nyman Contributions Death, Sarah, translator, Nyman, Karin, writer of foreword Classifications LC Classifications PT9875.L598 Z46 2016 The Physical Object Pagination 235 pages Number of Pages 235 ID Numbers Open Library OL27230425M ISBN 10 0300220049 ISBN 10 9780300220049 LC Control Number 2016952135 OCLC/WorldCa 946481705. These personal diaries kept by Astrid Lindgren, author of the world famous Pippi Longstocking books, chronicle the horrors of World War II.. Before she became internationally known for her Pippi Longstocking books, Astrid Lindgren was an aspiring author living in Stockholm with her family at the outbreak of the Second World War. The diaries she kept throughout the hostilities offer a civilian. Diaries kept by World War II soldiers are very rare, because keeping a diary was generally forbidden due to the danger of it falling into enemy hands. This . War Diaries, Beth McCrea. November 4, Sweden “Before she became internationally known for her Pippi Longstocking books, Astrid Lindgren was an aspiring author living in Stockholm with her family at the outbreak of the Second World War. The diaries she kept throughout the hostilities offer a civilian's, a mother's, and an. In Hollywood’s War with Poland, , M. B. B. Biskupski draws on a close study of prewar and wartime films such as To Be or Not to Be (), In Our Time (), and None Shall Escape (). He researched memoirs, letters, diaries, and memoranda written by screenwriters, directors, studio heads, and actors to explore the negative. Most of these Air Ministry records date from the Second World War but there are some from the First World War as well as books from between the wars and beyond, up to the mids. The ORBs, in series were created to provide a complete record of a unit from the time of its formation. Each book includes an accurate record of operations. Alanbrooke, the British imperial chief of staff during World War II, permitted a popular historian to publish excerpts from his wartime diaries in the s. Those two volumes -- The Turn of the Tide and Triumph in the West -- were shocking for the time. Winston Churchill came in for some rough treatment, which outraged his admirers. (Shortly after the diaries' publication, Churchill turned. Bristol Channel district guide. Words in the Key of Life (Designed to Inspire Greatness) Time in the performance of contracts. Plant-eaters and meat-eaters (World of dinosaurs) Personal Prayer Diary and Daily Planner (1997) Ordination derived from Christ. Scenes Et Sejours. Sworn To Silence (Lawman) Poems of Ivor Gurney, 1890-1937. Transcripts of parish registers, vol.56. 22nd annual Offshore Technology Conference. Crossroads, a K-16 American history curriculum. Chambers Concise Dictionary Thumb Indexed. Interpretation: the poetry of meaning. Native American Arts and Crafts. Washington Postcard Catalog. 9th annual frontiers in cardiovascular medicine. War diaries 1939-1945 = by Astrid Lindgren Download PDF EPUB FB2. War Diaries, Field Marshall Lord Alanbrooke [Alanbrooke, Lord Alan, Danchev, Alex] on *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. War Diaries, Cited by: War Diaries, book. Read 19 reviews from the world's largest community for readers. The first complete and unexpurgated edition of the war dia /5. "War Diaries, " by Astrid Lindgren documents the horror of World War II. For six years, Lindgren chronicled the devastation using newspaper clippings and personal insights gleaned from her state security work as a censor of military and private mail sent to, /5. "War Diaries, " by Astrid Lindgren documents the horror of World War II. For six years, Lindgren chronicled the devastation using newspaper clippings and personal insights gleaned from her state security work as a censor of military and private mail sent to, /5(9). War Diaries by Field Marshal Lord Alanbrooke in FB2, RTF, TXT download e-book. Welcome to our site, dear reader. All content included on our site, such as text, images, digital downloads and other, is the property of it's content suppliers and protected by %(). War Diaries – by Alanbrooke (Author), Alex Danchev (Editor), Daniel Todman (Editor) June ; First Edition; Paperback $; Title Details. Rights: Available in United States, Philippines Pages: ISBN: Trim Size: 6. The Bomber Command War Diaries: An Operational Reference Book,Books Martin Middlebrook, Chris Everitt Midland, - World War, - pages. For most of the Second World War, General Sir Alan Brooke (), later Field Marshal Lord Alanbrooke, was Britain's Chief of the Imperial General Staff (CIGS) and Winston Churchill's principal military adviser, and antagonist, in the inner councils of war. He is commonly considered the greatest CIGS in the history of the British Army. His diaries--published here for the first time in. Download The War Diaries: Notebooks from a Phoney War, Ebook Online. Buy Bomber Command War Diaries: An Operational Reference Book Reprint by Middlebrook, Martin, Everitt, Chris (ISBN: ) from Amazon's Book Store. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible s: Her War Diaries constitutes a very personal account of how dramatic world events affect us all. The text is charged with sorrow and dread. This is written before Astrid Lindgren’s time as a world-renowned author; the first book about Pippi Longstocking was released at the end of the war – War Diaries, Astrid Lindgren & Sarah Death. $; $; Publisher Description. These personal diaries kept by Astrid Lindgren, author of the world famous Pippi Longstocking books, chronicle the horrors of World War II. Before she became internationally known for her Pippi Longstocking books, Astrid Lindgren was an aspiring author. Field Marshal Lord Alanbrooke War Diaries, University of California Press, pages, $40 Inin his valedictory lecture as Regius Professor of Modern History, Hugh Trevor-Roper discussed the events ofwhen the world hung in a balance between very different futures. The Bomber Command War Diaries has become the standard basic work of reference on this extraordinary campaign. This edition includes retrospective observations and a new appendix. This is a comprehensive and fascinating record of the complete operations of Bomber Command during the Second World : £ "The newly published diaries of the globally acclaimed children’s book author offer fresh insights into war-time Sweden and into the life of. "The newly published diaries of the globally acclaimed children’s book author offer fresh insights into war-time Sweden and into the life of the not-yet-famous Astrid Lindgren."—Radio Sweden "A fascinating time-machine. 'Then' becomes 'now.'"—Per Svensson, Sydsvenska Dagbladet "This is a breath-taking read."—Barbara Möller Brand: Yale University Press. War Diaries, Astrid Lindgren's War Diaries,is a fascinating account of life in neutral Sweden during World War II. Famous today as the creator of Pippi Longstocking, which was published inLindgren was a something housewife and aspiring author during the war diaries are a mix of the personal and political. Marital problems, concerns about her son's. Buy War Diaries, by Alan Brooke Viscount Alanbrooke online from The Works. Visit now to browse our huge range of products at great prices. Buy Alanbrooke War Diaries Field Marshall Lord Alanbrooke By Alan Brooke Viscount Alanbrooke. Available in used condition with free delivery in. The Bomber Command War Diaries (subtitled: An Operational Reference Book, ) is a book by the British military historian Martin Middlebrook and the researcher Chris Everitt that documents every operation by RAF Bomber Command in Europe in World War II. The book also details the operational performances of each squadron and group and it remains in print today. Get this from a library! War diaries, [Alan Brooke Alanbrooke, Viscount; Alex Danchev; Daniel Todman].Explore our list of World War, >Personal narratives, German Books at Barnes & Noble®. Krigsdagbøger 1939-1945. Den svenske forfatter Astrid Lindgren skriver under hele Anden Verdenskrig dagbog, hvor hun beretter om hverdagen i Stockholm og det neutrale Sverige, om familielivet, om krigens gang, om sit kontorjob i et brevcensurbureau og om samtidens prøvelser og fremtidens håb og frygt. Astrid Lindgren har også et blik på krigens gang i resten af Norden og Europa, blandt andet det besatte naboland Danmark. Astrid Lindgren evner på bedste vis at veksle mellem udblik og indblik, mellem det største og det mindste, mellem det ydre og det nære. Astrid Lindgren er en eminent iagttager af krigens effekter på menneskeliv og Europas historie og samtidig en stor kulturpersonlighed. Astrid Lindgrens krigsdagbøger fra 1939-1945 er en stærkt personlig skildring af, hvordan dramatiske verdenshændelser påvirker og berører os alle – og hendes dagbogsblade er tekster ladet med stor sorg og forfærdelse og med stor glæde, da seks års krig endelig finder sin afslutning. Svenskt kvinnobiografiskt lexikon. For more advanced searches and combinations please use the Språkbanken tool Karp. This is particularly relevant for researchers seeking to analyse the information contained in SKBL (Biographical Dictionary of Swedish Women). Astrid Anna Emilia Lindgren. 1907-11-14 — 2002-01-28. Author, social debater. Astrid Lindgren was a Swedish children’s book author who fundamentally revitalised the genre. She is world famous for her books about Pippi Långstrump (Pippi Longstocking), Emil i Lönneberga, and Ronja Rövardotter (Ronia the robber’s daughter). She is currently (2017) the most translated Swedish author across all genres, in 100 registered languages. Astrid Lindgren was born in 1907. She grew up in Näs, near Vimmerby. She was the second child in a family of four siblings. Her father farmed a parsonage leasehold and later also worked for the municipality. Her mother had married young and had no professional qualifications, but she had intended to become a teacher. Astrid Lindgren portrayed her parents’ love-story in her 1975 book Samuel August från Sevedstorp och Hanna i Hult . Her childhood home benefited from a sense of safety and freedom, playfulness and hard work. Nature was important to Astrid Lindgren and several of her essays on writing and literature are rooted in her strong connection to the power of nature, such as “Finns det olika träd?”. Astrid Lindgren’s childhood has been described as easy-going but this changed during her gloomier and melancholy youth. She no longer had the freedom of playtime and once she had completed her schooling she began to do unpaid work at Vimmerby Tidning , where she reported and wrote travelogues. One of these describes a visit with Ellen Key at Strand in 1925. In the spring of 1926 Astrid Lindgren fell pregnant, which was a bit of a scandal at that time in the small town of Vimmerby. The child’s father was the owner and chief-editor of Vimmerby Tidning . Astrid Lindgren then had to move to Stockholm where she undertook office work and later trained to become a secretary for the Bar-Lock Institute. Her son, Lars, was handed over to foster parents in Denmark and four years would pass before mother and child could be reunited and build a home together. Astrid Lindgren was employed by Kungliga Automobil Klubben (KAK) and one of her jobs was to edit the KAK travel guide for Sweden. In 1931 she married Sture Lindgren. Three years later their daughter Karin was born and in 1941 the family settled in the apartment on Dalagatan 46 in Stockholm where she saw out her days. Although Astrid Lindgren was a housewife she would send stories and fairy-tales she had written to newspapers and journals such as Landsbygdens Jul and Stockholms-Tidningen . During the period of the Second World War she was employed as an inspector for the intelligence service within the letter-censoring department, a job which she herself termed a “squalid job”. She glued contemporary article clippings into her diaries from that time and wrote commentaries regarding her experiences and what she had read. Astrid Lindgren’s Krigsdagböcker 1939-1945 was published in 2015. Astrid Lindgren’s desire to tell stories and write developed at an early age. She had an essay published in Vimmerby Tidning when she was 13 years old. Her story-writing led, during the 1930s, to bigger projects and following the debut of her 1944 book for girls called Britt-Marie lättar sitt hjärta – which won 2nd prize in a competition – the stories didn’t stop coming. Astrid Lindgren had become a skilled stenographer and she used to stenograph her scripts and then write them out on a type-writer. Astrid Lindgren’s major breakthrough as an author came in 1945 through her literary bombshell entitled Pippi Långstrump ( Pippi Longstocking ). Elsa Beskow had been the doyenne of Swedish children’s literature for the last half-century until then. After the publication of Pippi Långstrump Astrid Lindgren took her place. This first book was followed by Pippi Långstrump går ombord in 1946 and Pippi Långstrump i Söderhavet in 1948. Around this time she also released two books on ‘Barnen i Bullerbyn’ (the Bullerby children), the first in the Kalle Blomkvist mystery series, Mästerdetektiven Blomkvist , from 1946, and the fairy-tale collection called Nils Karlsson Pyssling , from 1949. Further, Kerstin och jag , an often overlooked girls’ book which is the dream representative of the welfare state given its sacred view of agriculture, work, and love as experienced in the Swedish countryside, was published the same year as Pippi Långstrump . Kerstin och jag is diametrically opposed to the libertine lifestyle championed in Pippi Långstrump’s wild garden. The Pippi Långstrump trilogy challenged the outdated view of the child as mouldable material. Pippi questions society and its norms both in her language and experiences. Certain conservative circles found it hard to swallow the free lifestyle she espoused and it gave rise to discussions which continued right into the 2000s. Astrid Lindgren herself referenced Bertrand Russel and his ideas on children’s instinctive forces when she sent her manuscript to Albert Bonniers Förlag (publishers) in 1944: “a child’s primary instinctive force is the desire to grow up, or perhaps more correctly the desire for power, and the ordinary child clings onto notions of a desire for power in their imagination.” Astrid Lindgren’s manuscript was initially rejected and Pippi Långstrump was published in a somewhat reworked fashion by Rabén & Sjögren Bokförlag (publishers) the following year. The Pippi Långstrump stories also enjoyed widespread popularity through the medium of film, TV-series, and as stage dramatisations. The first stageplay of Pippi Långstrump was performed in 1948. There were also picture-books and series about Pippi Långstrump. The books were illustrated by the Danish-born Ingrid Vang Nyman, who also did the illustrations for the Bullerby books. Ilon Wikland took over as Astrid Lindgren’s chief illustrator, but she also had Kerstin Thorvall ( Kalle Blomkvist och Rasmus ) and Björn Berg (the Emil books) collaborating with her. Astrid Lindgren also wrote the texts for picture-books, including a series which was produced with the photographer Anna Riwkin-Brick about children from various different countries. Astrid Lindgren’s writings extend across a range of story-types and incorporate a variety of character types from the outset. The trilogy about Kati the young office-worker, introduced in the 1950 book Kati i Amerika , was initially produced as a serial for Damernas Värld and was originally aimed at an adult audience. Kalle Blomkvist’s mystery adventures do not shy away from murder and the thriller-like events resemble stories from the Cold War. Astrid Lindgren turned the perspective of the established children’s book on its head and transformed it. Her trademark was indeed to jump between genres and develope them both psychologically and artistically. Her stylised 1954 tale called Mio, min Mio takes the form of an epic tale about an unhappy adopted child and his search for a father. The four tales which comprise Sunnanäng , from 1959, include harsh developments in a poverty-struck Sweden which abandons its children. However, the 1947–1952 Bullerby books offer the direct opposite: a stable community of children within an idyllic farming environment. The ability to turn things completely upside down and engender expressions of a new aesthetic are typical of Astrid Lindgren’s writing. She emerges as a comical teller of folklore in the books about ‘Emil i Lönneberga’ which represent a look backwards at her own childhood. A feminine version of Emil appears in Madicken from 1960 and in Madicken och Junibackens Pims from 1976. In Lillebror och Karlsson på taket from 1955 Astrid Lindgren offers a particular type of humour. Karlsson became particularly popular in Russia, albeit in a reworked form. Karlsson, who is endowed with a propeller, embodies a megalomaniacal ego who simultaneously represents modern mankind’s complicated relationship to the machine. The main themes of Astrid Lindgren’s final novel, Ronja Rövardotter , from 1981, are love and peace. It shows how Astrid Lindgren is able to bring older story-forms such as the robber-novel to life but it also serves as a testament to the permanent and unwavering belief in children’s power to change structures and to create a new future. Astrid Lindgren’s books contain various levels of complexity but all of them are carried by a tension which immediately speaks to the reader. She has portrayed lonely, abandoned, and unwanted children and their attempts to control their hard-to-understand realities with a particular vividness. Dreams and imagination are transformed into creative forces, as in the 1949 poetic saga “I skymningslandet” about a boy suffering from polio who arises from his sickbed and flies out across Stockholm. The figure of the ill boy is also the basis for Bröderna Lejonhjärta ( Brothers Lionheart ), from 1973, which is perhaps Astrid Lindgren’s premier novel. It is as much an adventure story and revolutionary novel as it is an allegory of the small person’s strength in the face of a dictator’s power and evil’s machinations. The most decisive element of this novel about love, loyalty, and faith, is that it was possible to do the very things one didn’t dare to do. As Jonatan says to his younger brother Skorpan: “Otherwise one is not a person, one is just a wee turd”. Astrid Lindgren’s stories have influenced Swedish children’s films and children’s drama for many years. There are about 50 films based on her works. In 2016 the play Karlsson på taket was performed in both Gothenburg and Stockholm with Krister Henriksson in the lead role. The 1960s TV-series Vi på Saltkråkan about a Stockholm-based family who move out into the archipelago during the summer resounded directly with the public. It had been written as a TV-script and was only released in book format in 1964 after it had been aired. The modern series was produced in colour before colour-TV was the norm and the music had been especially written by Ulf Björlin. Later more films about Saltkråkan were produced. As an author and an individual Astrid Lindgren was enormously successful within society’s structures and culture. Her stories are read and influence people’s lives across the globe and several have now become classics in their own rights. As an editor and head of children’s and youth literature at Rabén & Sjögren publishers from 1946–1970 she also had major influence in the development of Swedish children’s and youth literature. She has influenced policy and was very active in the animal rights and peace movements. Many of Astrid Lindgren’s stories have transformed the Swedish language through words and expressions which are related to particular characters, such as Tjorven’s constant refrain of “Vet du vad?” (d’ya know what?) from Vi på Saltkråkan . The expression of exasperation, beloved by children, “Fy bubblan!” (similar to for Pete’s sake) from the radio- and film-adaptations of Kalle Blomkvist och Rasmus became a so- called national plague in the early 1950s whilst the eternal querying by the ‘rumpnissarna’ as to “Voffor gör di på detta viset?” (why are they doing it like that?) in Ronja Rövardotter is still, and probably will always be, in use. Astrid Lindgren died in Stockholm in 2002. The funeral service was held in the Storkyrka after her coffin had been carried through Stockholm in a cortège. The burial ceremony occurred in Vimmerby. Astrid Lindgren’s work is managed by the family company Saltkråkan AB. Her apartment at Dalagatan in Stockholm is still extant and the Astrid Lindgren association is responsible for showings. You are welcome to cite this article but always provide the author’s name as follows: Krigsdagbøger 1939-1945. - Med forord af Kerstin Ekman, efterord af Karin Nyman. Bog 1-2 hverdage kr. 349,95 E-bog Levering med det samme Indgår i streaming Lydbog Levering med det samme Indgår i streaming Brugt bog 3-7 hverdage kr. 300,00. Leveringstid 1-2 hverdage Forventet levering 17-06-2021. Beskrivelse Yderligere info Anmeldelser. Foretrækker du lydbog eller e-bog? Vælg type her: Lydbog Streaming i app Indgår i streaming E-bog Streaming i app Indgår i streaming. 2. Verdenskrig gjorde et stort indtryk på Astrid Lindgren, der under hele krigen berettede om sit liv i sine dagbøger. Her udkommer hendes personlige skildring af krigen, der ikke ramte det neutrale Sverige på samme måde som resten af Europa - og sågar det besatte Danmark. "Krigsdagbøger 1939-1945" er altså personlig og giver et indblik i den dagligdag Astrid Lindgren og hendes familie befandt sig i. Hun så både på sit eget land og de omkringliggende, samtidig med at hun forholdt sig til alle de ramte menneskeskæbner. "Krigsdagbøger 1939-1945" er et stykke vigtigt litteratur, der giver os viden om en krig, der fik kæmpe konsekvenser. Krigsdagböcker 1939-1945 by Astrid Lindgren. War Diaries, 1939–1945. War Diaries 1939–1945. Translated from the Swedish by Sarah Death. With a foreword by Karin Nyman. First published in the United States in 2016 by Yale University Press. First published in Great Britain in 2016 by Pushkin Press. First published in 2015 as Krigsdagböcker 1939–1945. by Salikon Förlag, Sweden. For more information about Astrid Lindgren, see www.astridlindgren.com. All foreign rights are handled by Saltkråkan AB, Lidingö, Sweden. © Astrid Lindgren/Saltkråkan AB. The translation was supported by a grant from the Swedish Arts Council. Illustration credits: Reproduction of the diaries © Andrea Davis Kronlund, The National Library of Sweden, Stockholm. Illustration on p. 6 Ricard Estay. All other illustrations courtesy of Saltkråkan AB. All rights reserved. This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, including illustrations, in any form (beyond that copying permitted by Sections 107 and 108 of the U.S. Copyright Law and except by reviewers for the public press), without written permission from the publishers. Yale University Press books may be purchased in quantity for educational, business, or promotional use. For information, please e-mail [email protected] (U.S. office) or [email protected] (U.K. office). Printed in the United States of America. Library of Congress Control Number: 2016952135. ISBN 978-0-300-22004-9 (hardcover: alk. paper) A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. This paper meets the requirements of ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992 (Permanence of Paper). 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1. Foreword by Karin Nyman. Glossary of Names. I was five at the outbreak of the Second World War. For us children in Sweden it soon started to feel like a normal state of affairs, almost a natural state, for all those around us to be at war. We took it for granted that our country had somehow secured guarantees not to be involved, and it was constantly being stressed to us: No, no, don’t be scared, the war won’t be coming to Sweden. It felt special, but in some strange way reasonable and justified, for us to be the ones who were spared. It did not seem strange to me that my mother cut articles out of the papers and pasted them into exercise books; I assumed it was just something parents did. Now I know that she was very probably unique, a 32-year-old housewife with secretarial training but no experience of thinking in political terms, who was so determined to document what was happening in Europe and the world to her own satisfaction that she persisted with her cuttings and commentaries for all six years of the war. It is also extremely rare and special to find diary entries so well written that they can be reproduced unabridged and instantly make gripping reading. That is why Salikon Förlag originally wanted to publish them, of course, because they give such a good picture of ordinary family life in Sweden in the war years and so vividly express the despair of the powerless at the horrors they read about in the papers every morning. Daily papers were the primary news source, there was no television, and although there was radio it had no live broadcasting or correspondents – the radio news consisted of readings of the telegrams received from the Swedish news agency Tidningarnas Telegrambyrå (TT). After the first year of the war, however, Astrid gained access to a fresh source of information. She was offered state security work at the secret Postal Control Division, as a censor of military and private post sent to, and coming from, other counties. The letters had to be steamed open and read, the aim being to find and black out any locations of military importance or other classified information. It was all so hush-hush that we children never knew what her late-evening job was. But the restrictions did not prevent her from copying out, or quoting sections of, the more interesting letters in her diary, for the insight they gave into conditions in the occupied countries. The diaries show another side of Astrid Lindgren’s authorship. She was admittedly still not a published author, nor had she any intention of becoming one. But in the midst of the convulsive tensions of the time, at some point in the winter of 1941, she started coming out with her unbridled stories of wild, freedom-loving Pippi Longstocking – first as a bedtime story for me, then at any time of day, for a growing audience of children, her own and others’, all wanting to hear more. In early 1944, she wrote down some of the stories and made them into a book. It was published by Rabén & Sjögrens Förlag in 1945, having first being refused by Bonniers. That was how it all began. It rather takes your breath away to think that before that relatively recent date, Pippi Longstocking simply did not exist and Astrid Lindgren could not have had the faintest idea of the career as a children’s writer which lay ahead of her. And that she, and we, did not know was probably just as well! How utterly unreal a glimpse of her future global fame would have seemed to her then. I can imagine that she might have looked away in terror at the sight of it. In old age, with her renown a fait accompli and her eyesight too poor for her to read the piles of readers’ thank-you letters and their touching testaments to the crucial role some of her books had played in their lives, when I had to read the letters out loud to her, she would sometimes look up, interrupt me and say, sounding almost fearful: ‘But this is remarkable, don’t you think?’ ‘Well yes,’ I would say, because I did. Truly remarkable. Until 2013, seventeen leather-bound diaries lived in a wicker laundry basket at Astrid Lindgren’s familiar home address, 46 Dalagatan in Stockholm. The diaries cover the years 1939–45. Her own name for them was ‘The War Diaries’ and they are now accessible to the public for the first time. The diaries bulged with press cuttings, pasted in between Lindgren’s handwritten entries. She refers now and then to the time it has taken her to save newspapers and magazines, sift through them and select items to cut out for pasting into her notebooks, but it was a task she set herself and she carried it through to the end, the number of cuttings increasing with every passing wartime year. In her preface to the Swedish edition, Kerstin Ekman, another eminent Swedish writer, expresses her admiration for Lindgren’s unusual resolve: War diaries were kept by general staffs and units out in the field. Their operational maps, battle accounts and observations would form the foundation of future history writing. It is striking to think of this 32-year-old mother of two and office-worker taking on the same sort of task with such seriousness. But only for herself, to try to understand what was going on. The Swedish edition includes facsimiles of quite a number of the two-page diary spreads featuring pasted-in newspaper cuttings. Here and there in this edition the reader will come across references to such accompanying cuttings and Pushkin Press has asked me to provide an explanatory note wherever one is necessary. Astrid Lindgren’s own comments are in round brackets, whereas square brackets indicate clarifications added by the Swedish editors, with a few additions for this English-language edition, to provide a little more background information for a non-Swedish readership. The ambition was to retain the overall character of the original, but dates and abbreviations have been harmonized. Biographical names have been corrected and some place names have been put into English. Where the o riginal work was in English, or in long lists of Swedish works, book and film titles have also been rendered in English. Then as now, Swedes often use ‘England’ as shorthand for any part of the British Isles, and that is Lindgren’s practice throughout her diaries. It seemed less jarring to render this as ‘Britain’ in the English-language edition. Astrid and her husband Sture at home in Vulcanusgatan, 1939. 1 SEPTEMBER 1939. Oh! War broke out today. Nobody could believe it. Yesterday afternoon, Elsa Gullander and I were in Vasa Park with the children running and playing around us and we sat there giving Hitler a nice, cosy telling-off and agreed that there definitely was not going to be a war – and now today! The Germans bombarded several Polish cities early this morning and are forging their way into Poland from all directions. I’ve managed to restrain myself from any hoarding until now, but today I laid in a little cocoa, a little tea, a small amount of soap and a few other things. A terrible despondency weighs on everything and everyone. The radio churns out news reports all day long. Lots of our men are being called up. There’s a ban on private motoring, too. God help our poor planet in the grip of this madness! A sad, sad day! I read the war announcements and felt sure Sture would be called up but he turned out not to be, in the end. Countless others have got to leave home and report for duty, though. We’re in a state of ‘intensified war readiness’. The amount of stockpiling is unbelievable, according to the papers. People are mainly buying coffee, toilet soap, household cleaning soap and spices. There’s apparently enough sugar in the country to last us 15 months, but if nobody can resist stocking up we’ll have a shortage anyway. At the grocer’s there wasn’t a single kilo of sugar to be had (but they’re expecting more in, of course). When I went to my coffee merchant to buy a fully legitimate quarter-kilo of coffee, I found a notice on the door: ‘Closed. Sold out for today.’ It’s Children’s Day today, and dear me, what a day for it! I took Karin up to the park this afternoon and that was when I saw the official notice that all men born in 1898 [Sture’s year of birth] would be called up. I tried to read the newspaper while Karin went on the slide but I couldn’t, I just sat there with tears rising in my throat. People look pretty much as usual, only a bit more gloomy. Everybody talks about the war all the time, even people who don’t know each other. The sun is shining, it’s a nice warm day, this earth could be a lovely place to live. At 11 a.m. today Britain declared war on Germany, as did France, but I don’t know exactly what time. Germany had received an ultimatum from Britain demanding an undertaking by 11 o’clock to withdraw its troops from Poland and enter into talks, in which case the invasion of Poland would be deemed never to have happened. But no undertaking had been received by 11 o’clock and Chamberlain said in his speech to the British nation on this Sunday afternoon: ‘consequently this country is at war with Germany’. ‘Responsibility [. ] lies on the shoulders of one man,’ Chamberlain told the British parliament. And history’s judgment of Hitler will certainly be damning – if this turns into another world war. Many people see this quite simply as the fall of the white race and of civilization. The various governments are already jawing about who’s to blame. Germany claims that Poland attacked first and that the Poles could do whatever they wanted under the protection of the Anglo-French guarantee. Here in Sweden we can’t see it any other way than that Hitler wants war, or that he can’t see any means to avoid it without losing face. It’s pretty clear that Chamberlain did his utmost to keep the peace; he gave way in Munich for no other reason. This time, Hitler demanded ‘Danzig and the Corridor’ but deep down he probably wants to rule the whole world. What line should Italy and Russia take? Polish sources say the first two days of war cost 1,500 lives in Poland. Anne-Marie came round this evening and we have never had a more dismal ‘meeting’. We tried to talk about things other than the war, but it was impossible. In the end we had a brandy to cheer ourselves up, but it didn’t help. A big British passenger steamer with 1,400 people on board has been torpedoed by the Germans, who deny having done it and claim the ship must have run into a mine. But the British wouldn’t have laid mines off the north-west coast of Scotland. I believe all the surviving passengers were rescued (60 died, no, more, 128?), some of them by Wenner-Gren on the Southern Cross, out on a pleasure trip with his tanks full of the oil he’s been hoarding. He’s been scolded roundly in the press for his crazy stockpiling. The British mounted a bombing raid over Germany and dropped not bombs but leaflets – saying that the British people don’t want to be at war with the German people, only with the Nazi regime. The British presumably hope there’ll be a revolution in Germany. It’ll annoy Hitler, at any rate. He’s decreed hard labour for anyone caught listening to foreign radio stations and the death penalty for those spreading information from foreign broadcasts to other citizens. A bomb from an unidentified plane fell on Esbjerg in peaceable little Denmark, destroyed a house and killed two people, one of them a woman. The bus service in Stockholm is to be restricted from tomorrow. Our streets already look deserted, now that use of private cars has been banned. Today I assembled my little stockpile in a corner of the kitchen, ready for storage in the attic. It comprises: 2kg sugar, 1kg sugar lumps, 3kg rice, 1kg potato flour, 11/2kg coffee in various tins, 2kg household cleaning soap, 2 boxes Persil, 3 bars toilet soap, 5 packets cocoa, 4 packets tea and a few spices. I shall gradually try to collect up a bit more, because prices are bound to rise soon. Karin called for a drink of water after I put her to bed last night. ‘At least we don’t have to worry about saving water.’ She thought we’d be able to live on water and jam if we had a war. Chamberlain delivered a radio address to the German people – who aren’t allowed to listen. There’s still nothing happening on the western front. But it seems clear that Germany is giving Poland a good thrashing. I bought shoes for myself and the kids, before the prices go up: two pairs for Karin at 12.50 kronor a pair, one pair for Lasse at 19.50 and one pair for me at 22.50. They say the French put up placards on the western front: ‘We won’t shoot.’ And that the Germans replied on their placards: ‘Nor will we!’ But it can’t be true. From tomorrow, all heavy goods vehicles will be subject to restrictions, as well. All quiet at the Schipka Pass [on the Swedish island of Gotska Sandön, strategically placed in the Baltic]. But the Germans will soon be in Warsaw. Yes, they’ve made it. Poor Poland! The Poles maintain that if the Germans were able to take Warsaw, it means the last Polish soldier has been crushed. The Russians marched into Poland today as well, ‘to safeguard the interests of the Russian minority’. Poland’s now as far down on its knees as it can get, so they must be thinking of sending a negotiator to Germany. There’s still not much action on the western front, but according to today’s paper Hitler’s planning a huge air offensive against Britain. We hear of very worrying developments at sea: countless ships torpedoed or blown up by mines. Supply routes to Germany must be more or less cut off, I think. The war carries on as usual. Poland has surrendered. It’s total chaos there. Germany and Russia have divided the country between them. It seems simply incredible that such a thing can happen in the twentieth century. Russia is the one benefiting most from this war. Once the Germans had crushed Poland – only then did the Russians march in and take their share of the spoils, and no small share, either. It’s generally assumed that the Germans aren’t particularly happy about this state of affairs, but they can’t say anything. Russia’s making a whole series of demands in the Baltic states – and getting what it wants. There can be no doubt that Germany is waging war on us, the neutral countries. All our ships in the North Sea are being captured and sunk. They’ve got spies in the ports checking up on cargoes and destinations, and we’re not the only neutral country whose ships are being sunk. I can’t see what they hope to achieve. There’s still nothing much happening on the western front. Here at home, we have various minor inconveniences to cope with. There’s no white sewing thread to be had, for instance. And we’re only allowed a quarter-kilo of household soap at a time. Lots of people are now unemployed as a result of the crisis. It’s a shame nobody’s shot Hitler. The coming week is going to be ‘dramatic’, Germany and Britain have both promised. Germany’s expected to propose a peace treaty that Britain can’t accept. But people all over the world want peace. The punch-up has started in earnest and it affects us now, primarily Finland of course, but it’s only a short step from there to here. Russia’s ‘invited’ the foreign ministers of the Baltic states to Moscow, one by one, and now it’s Finland’s turn. Foreign Minister Paasikivi is spending several days with Stalin, keeping Finland, us and the whole world in suspense. Helsinki has evacuated large sections of its population and the country is preparing for a war it would dearly have loved to avoid. The solidarity of the Nordic peoples is greater than ever. King Gustaf has invited all the Nordic heads of state to a conference in Stockholm next week. For now, Finland is putting its trust in Sweden. We’re expecting general mobilization here soon. Lars has come home from school with a list of kit he’ll need if they are evacuated and Mrs Stäckig and I went to PUB [department store] today to buy rucksacks and underwear for our lads.