Peter Englund
Peter Englund (born
April 4,
1957) is a
Swedish author and
historian, and a member of the
Swedish Academy since 2002.
Englund was born into a military family in
Boden and studied caretaking for two years and then humanistic subjects for another two years in secondary school. He was then conscripted and served 15 months in the
Swedish Army at the
Norrbotten Regiment located in Boden. He was politically active in his youth and supported the
FNL.
Englund studied
archaeology,
history, and theoretical
philosophy at
Uppsala University, completing a
bachelor's degree in 1983, after which he began doctoral studies in History. He was awarded his Ph.D. in 1989 for his dissertation
Det hotade huset ("The Threatened House") (1989), an investigation of the worldview of the 17th century Swedish nobility. During his period as a doctoral student, he had also worked for some time for the
Swedish Military Intelligence Service ("MUST"), and the year before being awarded his doctorate he had published the bestselling
Poltava, a detailed description of the
Battle of Poltava, where the troops of Swedish king
Charles XII were defeated by the Russian army of
Tsar Peter I in 1709.
Englund has been rewarded with the
August Prize (1993) and the
Selma Lagerlöf Prize for Literature (2002). He was elected a member of the
Swedish Academy in
2002.
Englund writes
non-fiction books and essays, mainly about history, and especially about the
Rise of Sweden as a Great Power, but also about other historical events. He writes in very accessible style, providing narrative details usually omitted in typical books about history. His books gained popularity and were translated into several languages - e.g. German, Czech.
Poltava ("Poltava") (1988)
Det hotade huset ("The Threatened House") (1989)
Förflutenhetens landskap ("The Landscape of the Past") (1991), collection of essays
Ofredsår ("Years of Warfare") (1993), Sweden during
Thirty Years' War with
Erik Dahlberg at the centre of the book
Brev från nollpunkten ("Letters from Ground Zero") (1996), collection of essays about modern history
Den oövervinnerlige ("The Invincible") (2000), on Sweden's period as a Great Power. Sequel to
OfredsårTystnadens historia ("History of Silence") (2004), collection of essays
Silvermasken ("The Silver Mask") (2006), a short biography of
Queen Kristina of Sweden*
Biography*
Englund's website (in Swedish)
