Happy Land

A colourful view of 'the world's happiest country' from an accidental expat who has lived in Finland for four decades

Tim Bird arrived in Finland by accident in the early Eighties. More than forty years on, he is still there. Along the way, he has watched the transformation of his adopted homeland from semi-detached member of the Soviet bloc to modern European nation that tops the rankings, year after year, as 'the happiest country in the world'.

Does it deserve that status? Do the Finns, known for their hard-drinking, their sisu (grit) and their passion for heavy metal, recognise that description of themselves? Telling the story of his own path to Finnish citizenship while also delving into the writings of the 19th-century British traveller Mrs Ethel Brilliana Tweedie, Bird interrogates the 'happiness' claim made on Finland's behalf.

In this clear-sighted - but never cynical - sideways look at the land of Sibelius, the sauna, the Northern Lights and the Moomins, Bird introduces readers to the Nordic nation's distinctive culture, history, landscape and language. In discovering what the Finnish notion of contentment truly entails, are there life-lessons for the rest of us?