Anu Partanen

From childcare to healthcare, provision for the elderly and tackling issues of homelessness, the Nordic countries are world leaders in organising society - no wonder Finland has been ranked among the happiest places in the world. But when Finnish journalist Anu Partanen moved to America, she quickly realised that navigating the basics of everyday life was overly complicated compared to how society was organised in her homeland. From the complications of buying a mobile, to the arduous task of filing taxes, she knew there was a better way and as she got to know her new neighbours she discovered that they too shared her deep apprehensions. The Nordic Theory of Everything details Partanen's mission to understand why America (and much of the Western world) suffers from so much inequality and struggling social services. Filled with fascinating insights, advice and practical solutions, she makes a convincing argument that we can rebuild society, rekindle optimism and become more autonomous people by following in the footsteps of our neighbours to the North.

At a 2012 conference on social mobility, Ed Miliband said: `If you want the American dream, go to Finland.' For decades, the country best known for opportunity had been the United States, but that crown has now been taken by our Nordic neighbours. When journalist Anu Partanen moved from her Scandinavian home to the US in 2008, she quickly went from being a confident, successful professional to a wary, self-doubting mess. She found that navigating the basics of everyday life - buying a mobile, filing taxes, education and childcare - were more complicated and stressful than anything she had encountered before. As Partanen got to know Americans better, she discovered that they shared her deep apprehension, and to learn why she looked closely at the differences between life in her Nordic home country and the US. In The Nordic Theory of Everything, Partanen focuses on four key relationships: between parents and children, men and women, employees and employers, and the government and its citizens. She debunks the criticism that the Nordics are socialist nanny states, revealing instead that it is we who are far more enmeshed in unhealthy dependencies than we realise. Her conclusion: the Nordic approach allows citizens to enjoy more individual freedom and independence. Filled with fascinating insights, advice and practical solutions, The Nordic Theory of Everything makes a convincing argument that we can rebuild society, rekindle optimism and restore true freedom to our lives, while pursuing the `American' dream by following the Nordic way of life.