The century of the jarl

If you live in Sweden, Dick Harrison's "Jarlens sekel" is a must read if you want to be taken seriously when chit-chatting about Swedish 13th century history at some cocktail party. It's even available as a cheap paperback. Harrison is a well-known expert on the Middle Ages in general, and is often seen on television. He has become the virtual sidekick of Jan Guillou, the author of the Arn novels, set in 12th and 13th century Sweden. While Guillou's novels about Swedish crusaders have been translated to English, Harrison's magnum opus remains untranslated. But then, I suppose it's possible that few people outside Sweden are interested in the story of the medieval strongman Birger jarl and his attempts to drag Sweden from the Dark Ages into the Middle Ages. Still, I agree with Guillou who said: "Any information about 13th century Sweden not included in this book probably isn't worth knowing anyway". Five stars!