{"product_id":"9780099546078","title":"The Almost Nearly Perfect People : Behind the Myth of the Scandinavian Utopia","description":"\u003cp\u003e Author(s): Booth, Michael \u003cbr\u003e Binding: Paperback, \u003cbr\u003e Date of Publication: 12\/02\/2015,\u003cbr\u003e Pagination: 416 pages,\u003cbr\u003e ISBN13\\EAN\\SKU: 9780099546078,\u003cbr\u003e Description: \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Danes are the happiest people in the world, and pay the highest taxes.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e'Neutral' Sweden is one of the biggest arms manufacturers in the world.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFinns have the largest per capita gun ownership after the US and Yemen.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e54 per cent of Icelanders believe in elves.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNorway is the richest country on earth.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e5 per cent of Danish men have had sex with an animal.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMichael Booth has lived among the Scandinavians, on and off, for over ten years, perplexed by their many strange paradoxes and character traits and equally bemused by the unquestioning enthusiasm for all things Nordic and hygge that has engulfed the rest of the world. He leaves his adopted home of Denmark and embarks on a journey through all five of the Nordic countries to discover who these curious tribes are, the secrets of their success and, most intriguing of all, what they think of each other. 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e'The next Bill Bryson.’ New York TimesWinner of the Best Narrative Travel Book Award from the British Guild of Travel Writers\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Griffin Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43697761255468,"sku":"9780099546078","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0379\/1365\/7388\/files\/9780099546078.jpg?v=1722602856","url":"https:\/\/www.griffinbooksonline.co.uk\/products\/9780099546078","provider":"Griffin Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}