Flyt! (Flow) is subtitled “Förbättringar i Sverige sedan sjuttiotalet”, i.e. “Improvements in Sweden since the seventies”. As the back cover blurb says, it’s about a greyer, duller Sweden – an era when mail for women was addressed to their men, when pink telephones were forbidden, and when travelling abroad was a luxury available only to few. When homosexuality was classed as an illness, when garlic was exotic food, when long-distance calls had to be booked in advance.

It’s a good reminder to all pessimists that life was not better in the good old days. For me (who did not get to experience the seventies in Sweden) it was also interesting to see the similarities and differences between the seventies in Sweden and in Estonia.

The book is light-hearted, and yet packed with information: punchy facts, factoids, statistics, photos and personal memories. At 150 pages it’s a quick and fun read.

The book’s web site. Adlibris.