Eino Hosia is the only Finnish author who had gained recognition before the wars of 1939–1945 and lost his life in them.

of the Winter War in Taipale and Vuosalmi. Hosia had already described dreamlike visions and exceptional people in his previous works. Now he entered reality, but reality was the landscape of Tuonela, the war front “black, ruined and strange”.

as well as the detachment from civilian life felt by many upon returning home from the war. It is billed by some as "the greatest war novel of all time".

between Finland and the Soviet Union from the viewpoint of ordinary Finnish soldiers.

associated with interminable delays, as in the text of the ballad: "All day they were building it, and in the night it would collapse."

starting with Roman or perhaps older foundations; the current bridge is probably a 17th-century Ottoman construction.

The folk ballad "The Bridge of Arta" tells a story of human sacrifice during its building. From the ballad, a number of Greek proverbs and customary expressions arose,

The Matsue Ohashi Bridge according to legend used a human sacrifice in its construction. The nearby park is named Gensuke in honour of the human sacrifice along with a memorial dedicated to the victims who died during the bridge's construction.

It was believed this would protect the building from being destroyed by natural disasters such as floods or by enemy attacks. Hitobashira can also refer to workers who were buried alive under inhumane conditions.

construction of buildings. Hitobashira was practiced formerly in Japan as a form of human sacrifice. A person was buried alive under or near large-scale buildings like dams, bridges and castles, as a prayer to Shinto gods.

of the many victims of the ongoing war. Themes throughout the story include death, literature, and love.

consort with wild beasts and the Diabolus Sylvarum or Wood Daemon, wherefore she was called by the peasants Wolf's Bride.

As the two women’s lives become intertwined, the Witch Trials of 1612 loom. Time is running out; both their lives are at stake. Only they know the truth. Only they can save each other.

By chance she meets a midwife named Alice Grey, who promises to help her deliver a healthy baby. But Alice soon stands accused of witchcraft.

Is there more to Alice than meets the eye? Fleetwood must risk everything to prove her innocence.

a working-class suburb of Stockholm, in the early 1980s. The book grapples with the darker side of humanity, including such issues as existential anxiety, social isolation, fatherlessness, divorce, alcoholism, school bullying, paedophilia, genital mutilation, self-mutilation, and murder.