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A review by rbruehlman
How Iceland Changed the World: The Big History of a Small Island by Egill Bjarnason
5.0
This was a surprisingly enjoyable read. History books can be fact-filled slogs, but this was anything but. Bjarnarson writes in an easy yet informative style, with just the right amount of dry, cheeky wit sparkled in.
Rather than exhaustively explain all the ins-and-outs of Icelandic history, Bjarnarson starts chronologically by picking different major events related to Iceland that, true to the book's name, had an impact on the world in some way. Topics ranged from the Vikings exploring the Americas, to keeping a pristine record of Nordic mythology, to playing a key pivotal role in WW2 for the Allied Forces, to providing asylum to Bobby Fischer in the height of the Cold War. Almost every event he touches upon, a reader completely unfamiliar with Iceland can relate to, thereby sidestepping a problem many readers probably have with history: okay, this happened, but why should I care?
Bjarnarson never spends too long on each topic--long enough to give what felt like a comprehensive overview, but not so long that the topic ever outwears its welcome. At no point during the book was I bored or losing interest.
Normally I reserve 5-star ratings for books that fundamentally changed the way I think about the world, but I'll give this one 5-stars because I think it's pretty hard to write a history book I wouldn't be at least a little bored by. I would read more history books if they were written like this.
Rather than exhaustively explain all the ins-and-outs of Icelandic history, Bjarnarson starts chronologically by picking different major events related to Iceland that, true to the book's name, had an impact on the world in some way. Topics ranged from the Vikings exploring the Americas, to keeping a pristine record of Nordic mythology, to playing a key pivotal role in WW2 for the Allied Forces, to providing asylum to Bobby Fischer in the height of the Cold War. Almost every event he touches upon, a reader completely unfamiliar with Iceland can relate to, thereby sidestepping a problem many readers probably have with history: okay, this happened, but why should I care?
Bjarnarson never spends too long on each topic--long enough to give what felt like a comprehensive overview, but not so long that the topic ever outwears its welcome. At no point during the book was I bored or losing interest.
Normally I reserve 5-star ratings for books that fundamentally changed the way I think about the world, but I'll give this one 5-stars because I think it's pretty hard to write a history book I wouldn't be at least a little bored by. I would read more history books if they were written like this.