Stikkord: Bjørn Berge

Bjørn Berge: IN THE AGE OF THE BOMBERS

CULTURAL HISTORY

Cover of "In the Age of the Bombers"

Luftens tyranner. Menn og bombefly gjennom 100 år
Published by Spartacus Forlag, 2019

Deadly planes as big as football pitches with bomb loads of up to 50 tonnes have thundered over cities and countries since 1914. The scenario is both historical and contemporary.
The arrival of bomber technology, with its ability to penetrate front lines and spread destruction among civilian populations, changed the nature of warfare forever. Its supporters claimed mass bombing would yield rapid victories by demoralising enemy populations. The idea persists: if only bombers become powerful, fast and precise enough, wars will be won swiftly and bloodlessly.

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Bjørn Berge: NOWHERE LANDS. LOST COUNTRIES OF THE 19TH AND 20TH CENTURY

HISTORY/GEOGRAPHY

Bjørn Berge: Landene som forsvant/Nowhere LandsLandene som forsvant. 1840 – 1970
Published by Spartacus, 2016

A different kind of world history – told through stamps from countries that have been erased from the map

More than 1000 countries have issued their own stamps during the past 175 years since the first “Penny Black” was introduced in England in 1840. Most of them no longer exist. Some of their names will bring back associations, such as Biafra and “famine” and Bhopal and “environmental disaster”. Others, few of us will associate with anything, like Labuan, Tannu Tuva and Fiume. These lost countries have fascinating stories to tell , whether they were short-lived like Eastern Karelia, which lasted only a few weeks during the winter war of 1922, or more tenacious such as the Orange Free State, a Boer Republic which celebrated 50 years as an independent state in the late 1800s.

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