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Rise & Fall of New Sweden
Governor Johan Risingh's Journal
1654-1655 In Its Historical Context

By: Stellan Dahlgren & Hans Norman
1998
Uppsala University Press
ISBN: 9155421377
303 Pages, Illustrated
$63.00 hardcover

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New Sweden was one manifestation of Sweden's Policy of expansion during its Age of Greatness. In existence for only seventeen years, the colony was lost to the Netherlands, which in turn was bereft of its colonial posssessions in North America by England, the rising colonial power.

Johan Risingh, the last governorin New Sweden, personified Sweden's dreams of becoming a great power. His journal provides a captivating account of the voyage to North America in 1654 and describes his intense activity as leader of the colony during its last years and the dramatice events in connection with the Dutch conquest. Much is also learned of the colonist's views of the new land around the Delaware, its opportunities and its old inhabitants, the Indians.

Risingh's journal is presented here for the first time in print, both in its original Swedish version and with an English translation. It is supplied with explanatory notes and illustrative pictures, some of which are not previously published. The editors, Associate Professors Stellan Dahlgren and Hans Norman, Uppsala University, Sweden, have written introductory essays which place New Sweden in its international context. The book is intended for both the general public and professional historians interested in colonial history and the New Sweden venture.

History
ACATA Bibliothecae R. Universitatis Upsalienes Vol. XXVII