In his autobiography, Hans Christian Andersen gives a vivid account of the Danish provincial life he knew as a child, as well as life in Danish aristocratic circles and in European high society. He met all the leading authors and composers and was one of the most widely travelled writers of his day.

Colloquial Danish provides a step-by-step course in Danish as it is written and spoken today. Combining a user-friendly approach with a thorough treatment of the language, it equips learners with the essential skills needed to communicate confidently and effectively in Danish in a broad range of situations. No prior knowledge of the language is required. Key features include: * progressive coverage of speaking, listening, reading and writing skills * structured, jargon-free explanations of grammar * an extensive range of focused and stimulating exercises * realistic and entertaining dialogues covering a broad variety of scenarios * useful vocabulary lists throughout the text * additional resources available at the back of the book, including a full answer key, a grammar summary and bilingual glossaries Balanced, comprehensive and rewarding, Colloquial Danish will be an indispensable resource both for independent learners and students taking courses in Danish. Audio material to accompany the course is available to download free in MP3 format from www.routledge.com/cw/colloquials. Recorded by native speakers, the audio material features the dialogues and texts from the book and will help develop your listening and pronunciation skills.

First published in 1986, Denmark seeks to show the way in which modern Denmark, with its high standard of living, its sense of an orderly society, and its tolerance, had emerged and been shaped since the beginning of the 19th century. It traces its political history, the emergence of political parties and the protracted struggle for parliamentary democracy in the face of a king determined to appoint his own ministers. It looks at the determination of the Danes after the financial repercussions of the Napoleonic wars and the territorial and economic losses resulting from the Schleswig-Holstein debacle in 1864 to win through and recoup their losses. Social changes are described in some detail, particularly in the twentieth century and attention is paid to the workings of the Danish welfare state. Appendices trace in broad outline the historical relationship between Denmark and its former colonies of Greenland and Faroe Islands, now both self-governing territories. This book will be of interest to students of history, geography, political science, sociology and cultural studies.

First published in 1964 The Good Hope won The Nordic Prize for Literature. It is the first English translation of one of the greatest novels in the Danish language..The Good Hope is an epistolary novel based on the life of the Reverend Lucas Debes, a larger than life character called Peder B rresen in the novel. It tells a story of brutal oppression, poverty and terrible diseases, but also of resistance and of having the courage of one's convictions. It is a dramatic fantasy in which Heinesen's customary themes - the struggle against evil, sectarianism, superstition and oppression -emerge on a higher plane, set against the backcloth of the Faroe Islands in the 1690s.The Good Hope is a masterpiece which took 40 years to write.

Glyn Joness translation captures the enthusiasm, charm and humour of a great writers first novel. Windswept Dawn is a Faeroese Under the Milk Wood revealing the whole personality of a small closely knit community. William Heinesen brings to life a whole host of vivid, larger than life character from the sectarian preacher, Reinhold Vaag, the drunken, philosophising solicitor Morberg, the well-meaning voyeur Vitus, to the firebrand shopkeeper Landrus and the bizarre teacher Balduin who is intent on reaching spiritual perfection. We see the large cast of characters battling against the elements, the hostile sea and the rough terrain while the Lutherans and the Plymouth Brethren fight for their souls in a changing world. The main character in the novel is the Faroes Island themselves. William Heinesen is generally considered to be one of the greatest if not the greatest Scandinavian novelist of the twentieth century.

Katinka is the stationmaster's wife in a sleepy Danish provincial town and her domestic languour is disrupted by the arrival of Huus, the new foreman on a nearby farm. Unlike her boorish husband, Huus is attentive and sensitive and despite her best efforts Katinka falls in love with him. Her whole life is turned upside down by an intense passion she had never expected to experience and which has unforeseen consequences.

Barbara is a Faroese Moll Flanders, a woman of insatiable sexual desire, which leads her from one man to another in search of sexual gratification.

Heinesen's novels always contain the portrait of what might be termed a "good" woman: Simona in Windswept Dawn, Eliana in The Lost Musicians, Liva in The Black Cauldron. Here, however, the "good" woman, Antonia, is raised to mythological status as the representative of motherhood, the bearer of life as has existed from the dawn of time. This portrayal is placed against the description of a limited circle of ordinary and unprepossessing figures in a small town, much of it as experienced through the eyes of Antonia's infant illegitimate son from his very earliest days until he is some five years of age.In contrast to Antonia, there is Trine, an essentially tragic figure, whose tragedy to a large extent is the direct result of her narrow religious beliefs and her resultant refusal to follow her natural instincts and to take the chance of happiness and the natural fulfilment of life when it is offered to her. Religion is in this novel portrayed exclusively in negative terms in stark contrast to the world of nature, the bearer of life, the supreme representative of which is Antonia.

W. Glyn Jones' masterful translation allows us to read in English for the first time one of the neglected classics of Scandinavian Literature. Ida Brandt is the classic outsider. Not acceptable to the Danish aristocratic circle she was brought up around and too moneyed for her nursing colleagues at the hospital. She is good looking and gentle, generous and kind and her trusting nature is betrayed by the people around her. Herman Bang takes us into Ida's world, he does not comment, let alone criticise and leaves the reader to judge. It is a novel ahead of its time in its impressionistic, almost cinematic style.