1947 when now begins by Elisabeth Åsbrink
THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER translated by BY Fiona Graham
Published to coincide with the 70th anniversary of the book’s events, this gripping narrative history by a multi-award-winning author interweaves stories that explain the origins of Islamic extremism, the state of Israel, the IMF, the CIA, and explores the history of her own family.
Somewhere on the timeline, the war ends, while somewhere else, a new age begins — the one we call now.
In 1947, production begins of the Kalashnikov, Christian Dior creates the New Look, Simone de Beauvoir writes The Second Sex, the first computer bug is discovered, the CIA is set up, Hassan Al-Banna draws up the plan that remains the goal of jihadists to this day, and a UN committee is given four months to find a solution to the problem of Palestine. And among the millions in flight across Europe looking for a new home in 1947 are the parents of Elisabeth Åsbrink.
In 1947 Elisabeth Åsbrink chronicles the creation of the world we now inhabit, as the forces that will go on to govern all our lives during the next 70 years first make themselves known.
ELISABETH ÅSBRINK is a multi-award-winning author and journalist who is known in the UK as the journalist who unveiled Ikea founder Ingvar Kamprad’s Nazi ties. Her previous books have won the August Prize, the Danish-Swedish Cultural Fund Prize, and Poland’s Kapuscinski Prize. 1947 is her fourth book in Swedish and the first of her works to be published in English. It will also be published across the world, including in Germany, Norway, Finland, Italy, Slovakia, Denmark, Australia, and the USA.