Daniel Hammarberg

The Madhouse: a Critical Study of Swedish Society Daniel Hammarberg

Imagine a country where the government can sentence you to up to four years in prison for "expressing disrespect" in private for minority groups.

Where the government doesn't even let you own a simple handgun unless you can convince the police authorities and administrative courts that you need it for an acceptable purpose, which is nearly impossible.

Where the government can take your children into custody if you raise them in a way that's incompatible with state philosophy, and where you don't have the right to spank or ground them, while the state on the other hand is very able to deprive them of their liberty until they're 20 years old, without having committed a crime.

A country where the average working man hands over nearly two thirds of his income to the government. This is not North Korea, Cuba or China - this is Sweden, a country that's sometimes praised by people without much insight into what society here is really like.

This 120'000 word tome is your ultimate guide to contemporary Swedish society - thoroughly researched and well-documented, as well as supplemented with a good deal of humour, it's money well spent.