The Vasa – this ship is a national treasure about which there is still a great deal to tell. Here we are taken back to Stockholm in the 1620s. King Gustav II Adolf already had a lot of power, but wanted even more. He ordered the construction of the b ...
The Vasa – this ship is a national treasure about which there is still a great deal to tell. Here we are taken back to Stockholm in the 1620s. King Gustav II Adolf already had a lot of power, but wanted even more. He ordered the construction of the biggest ship the Swedes had ever seen.
This was to be a ship that would manifest his power and impress – as well as frighten – the enemies of the realm. But it all goes horribly wrong. As we know, on its maiden voyage the proud ship capsizes and sinks. In this book, Anders Wahlgren introduces us to everyday life in the early 1600s in a bustling Stockholm and all of those people more or less involved in the building of the ship. Not many private letters were written in those days, but by studying old court records and other sources he has created a picture of how ordinary people lived almost four hundred years ago. We get to meet Karin the candle-maker and her boatswain Mårten. The Italian pasta cook who came up to the cold north. And from the Netherlands, the Hybertson family where the wife, Margareta, becomes the head of the shipyard, one of the largest workplaces in Sweden. The book is richly illustrated.
Anders Wahlgren is also making a feature-length film and a TV series about this great adventure.