Word: finlandized
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...track fans in the stands at Turku, Finland stirred unhappily at the announcement: both California's Don Bowden, first American miler to crack four minutes (3:58.7), and New Jersey's Tom Courtney, world record holder in the half-mile (1:46.8), were passing up the 1,500-meter event. The crowd had come out to see the Americans and Scandinavians push each other to a new record on the fast, hard-packed track where Australia's John Landy set the mile record of 3:58 in 1954. Fidgeting, the fans sat back to watch the Scandinavians...
They saw a great race. Coming into the homestretch, Sweden's Dan Waern led by three meters. Then Finland's Olavi Vuorisalo, Olavi Salonen and Olavi Salsola all nickered past. Almost as one man, the three Finns sprinted across the line. Ten minutes later, after studying the photo finish, the judges announced the astounding news: all three had broken the old record of 3:40.6, Salsola finishing first in 3:40.2, Salonen second in the same time, and Vuorisalo third...
...Finns in the past 18 years have fought two wars with Russia, both beyond their capacity to win. The first was the Winter War of 1939 when Finland thrilled the world by holding the Red army at bay for 3½ months. The second, and the subject of this impressive novel, took place 15 months later, and found Finland alongside Hitler in his invasion of the Soviet Union. Author Linna, a textile worker who served in that war, writes with a ferocity and explicitness certain to jolt the half-patronizing image of "plucky little Finland" held by many Americans...
Author Linna's bitter book is a huge bestseller in Finland. American readers should be impressed by his terse descriptions of infighting, and grateful for the absence of the detailed flashbacks to peacetime life that have become the curse of war novels. There are some stereotypes but also some fresh, vivid portraits: Rokka, the veteran of the Winter War, who will fight his own way or not at all; Honkajoki, the eccentric pedant, who infuriates his officers by carrying a longbow into battle; Lahtinen, the Communist sympathizer, who wins a medal for bravery, yet takes a perverse pleasure...
Countries represented include the Belgian Congo, Ceylon, China, Denmark, Egypt, England, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Korea, Malaya, the Netherlands, Pakistan, the Phillipines, Poland, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, Vietnam, and the United States...