Independent publisher Eye Books has landed travel writer Tim Bird’s latest book, HAPPY LAND: SEEKING MY INNER FINN, a personal journey through Finland’s transformation from an enigmatic Nordic nation to the news that Finland has for the eighth year running been named the world’s happiest country
The author shares a personal journey to Finnish citizenship, reflecting on Finnish identity shaped by over 40 years of life in Finland as a ‘professional foreigner.’ It will examine Finland’s unique position in the Nordic region, highlighting its distinct culture, history, and language, and sheds light on how Finns from various backgrounds perceive the label of contentment.
Publisher Dan Hiscocks says: ’Finland has always been something of an oddity in Europe, with a terrifying language and an ambiguous status in the Cold War years, straddling West and East, and it’s a less obvious tourist destination for British travellers than many of its neighbours. Yet every year it hits the headlines, like some real-life Disneyland, as the happiest place on earth. Tim has spent far more of his life in Finland than the UK and is in a great position to tell us why.’
Tim Bird says: ‘In the last decade, Finland has been newsworthy to an unprecedented extent, by virtue of joining Nato and its repeated ranking as the world’s happiest country. While there are various specialist English-language histories of Finland, there is a shortage of well-informed, first-person narratives, with elements of travel and memoir, and I’m delighted that Eye Books has seen this opportunity. I’m very much looking forward to working with their team to make my book a reality.’
Timothy Bird is a writer, photographer, and English language editor with dual British and Finnish citizenship, and lives in Helsinki. His published works include A Baltic Odyssey, Suomenlinna – Islands of Light, and Living in Finland (co-authored with Ingalil Snitt) and contributes to various publications such as The Independent, The Telegraph, Finnair Blue Wings, and Fodor’s Guides.
Happy Land will be published in hardback in January 2026. Eye Books was the Midlands winner of Small Press of the Year at the British Book Awards 2022.
Cull & Co. Literary Agency Ltd 