Narrative Non-fiction · Hardback

The history of the boat

Norwegian title: Historien om båten

While the Covid-19 pandemic led to closed borders and a break lasting well over two years, Torolf E. Kroglund built his own boat – without any experience. It was going to be a rowing boat – a pram. It gets built following a traditional clink-build method, just like the Vikings did and which is now declared a world heritage by UNESCO. At the same time both the author’s and the planet’s health worsen dramatically. Building a boat becomes a way to build a way out.

This book looks at the history of the boat, from African migrants who at the dawn of time left the continent by boat, to the present boat migrants, and the complicated culture of the coast. With a personal approach the book digs into the core of what the boat has meant, both internationally and for Norway as a nation. The boat as a specific vessel between land and continent, moving towards freedom and free time – but also in the less literal meaning; the method of communication which carries humanhood. We’re all in the same boat.Contagious storytelling from someone who isn't born with skis on his feet, but with oars in his hands.ADRESSEAVISEN, five/six stars

The boat floats, and then some, in Tororlf E. Kroglund's The History of the Boat. Kroglund writes brillianty well.BOK365, five/six stars

One who reads it [the book] with an open mind and heart for the people's existence alone and together with others, will be enriched.FÆDRELANDSVENNEN

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