Jens Rydström examines the history of homosexuality and bestiality in that country to consider why these sexual practices have been so closely linked in virtually all Western societies. He limns sharply the distinctive experience of rural life, showing that to regularly witness farm animals stirred passions and sparked ideas, especially among young farmhands.Based on medical journals, psychiatric reports, and court records from the period, as well as testimonies from men in diaries, letters, and interviews, Sinners and Citizens reveals that bestiality was once a dreaded crime in Sweden. But in time, mention of the practice disappeared completely from legal and medical debates. This, Rydström contends, is because models of penetrative sodomy shifted from bestiality to homosexuality as Sweden transformed from a rural society into a more urban one. As the nation's economy and culture became less identified with the countryside, so too did its idea of deviant sexual behavior.

    

    One day the mail boat delivers a little boy to the Granstrom brothers' dock. It's Bubble, their grandnephew, and he's staying for a week. Luckily, he's brought his own entertainment: a ship kit with a million pieces. The Granstroms build the model kit and follow the instruction saying "For full size, place in water." Sure enough, the next day their ship has grown tremendously, and they set out to sea. Bubble appoints himself captain. He makes old man Granstrom cook although he claims he can't. Granstrom's brother Herring August is the lookout although heights make him dizzy. They head for the Pacific Ocean, where they see sharks and sea monsters and perform fierce acts of piracy. By the time the oatmeal supply runs out, the Granstroms declare that they've never sailed under a better captain. Catarina Kruusval's detailed and colorful illustrations will fire the imagination of anyone who dreams of sailing the seven seas.

    Yet, surface similarities between the two nations conceal essential differences. Christina Robinowitz and Lisa Werner Carr provide insights and strategies for successful interactions with Swedes, whether business or social. True to its title, Modern-Day Vikings traces some of Sweden's most ingrained cultural traits back to its Viking heritage: self-sufficiency, fairness, egalitarianism and democracy. The authors also examine Sweden's famous "cradle-to-grave" social model and explore the values underlying modern Swedish culture, such as lagom (moderation), the law of Jante (personal modesty), communication styles and business practices.