''The Case for Latvia. Disinformation Campaigns Against a Small Nation. Fourteen Hard Questions and Straight Answers about a Baltic Country'' is a

non-fiction Non-fiction (or nonfiction) is any document or content (media), media content that attempts, in good faith, to convey information only about the real life, real world, rather than being grounded in imagination. Non-fiction typically aims to pre ...

book on the

history of Latvia The history of Latvia began around 9000 BC with the end of the last glacial period#Weichsel glaciation, in Scandinavia and northern Europe, last glacial period in northern Europe. Ancient Balts, Baltic peoples arrived in the area during the sec ...

by the awarded Finnish author Jukka Rislakki. The book was first published 2007 in the

Finnish language Finnish (endonym: or ) is a Finnic languages, Finnic language of the Uralic languages, Uralic language family, spoken by the majority of the population in Finland and by ethnic Finns outside of Finland. Finnish is one of the two official langu ...

. It was translated to English by Richard Impola and published by the Rodopi publishing house 2008. An expanded second edition was published January 2014. ''The Case for Latvia'' is part of the series '' On the Boundary of Two Worlds: Identity, Freedom, and Moral Imagination in the Baltics''.

Languages and editions

''The Case for Latvia'' was first published 2007 in the

with the title "''Tapaus Latvia. Pieni kansakunta disinformaatiokampanjan kohteena''", and has since then also been published in the

Latvian language Latvian (, ), also known as Lettish, is an East Baltic languages, East Baltic language belonging to the Indo-European language family. It is spoken in the Baltic region, and is the language of the Latvians. It is the official language of Latvia ...

with the title: "''Maldināšana: Latvijas gadījums''" (2008), and in the

Russian language Russian is an East Slavic languages, East Slavic language belonging to the Balto-Slavic languages, Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family. It is one of the four extant East Slavic languages, and is ...

with the title: "Манипуляции фактами: латвийский вариант" (2011). The English version, translated from Finnish by Richard Impola, was published by the Rodopi publishing house 2008, and an expanded second edition was published January 2014.

Cross of Recognition

On 4 May 2009, the day of restoration of independence of the Republic of Latvia, the author was awarded the Latvian Cross of Recognition for "''selfless promotion of the Latvian image abroad and national patriotic education of youth''". ''The Case for Latvia'' is the only book by Jukka Rislakki about Latvia, that has been translated to English.

Reception

The Latvian language version of ''The Case for Latvia'' was reviewed by the Delfi web portal. The review comments on some of the points given in the book: "The analyses f the bookalso helps to understand, why the small and militarily weak Latvia in different surveys, for so long has been looked upon as Russia's enemy number one", and 'The Case for Latvia is mainly written for readers in the USA, even though Latvian readers may find new and interesting news". ''The Case for Latvia'' was reviewed by two Latvian American scholars in the Latvian language magazine ''Jaunā Gaita''. Gundars Ķeniņš-Kings (1926–2015), dean of School of Business at the

Pacific Lutheran University Pacific Lutheran University (PLU) is a Private university, private Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Lutheran university in Parkland, Washington. It was founded by Norwegian Lutheran immigrants in 1890. PLU is sponsored by the 580 congreg ...

, and Aija Veldre Beldavs (1941–2009), Doctor of Philosophy at the Folklore Archives at

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a state university system, system of Public university, public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. The system has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration o ...

. Beldavs initiates her review by the following comment: "It is easy to spread lies. After that, they folklorize, live their independent lives far from the truth. There is little help in facts that are rich in rebukes. Information wars are usually won by the strong and wealthy. In an unequal collision, small nations should be content with a purposeful, systematic, value-enhancing and creative approach to establishing evidence for rebuttal of lies". ''

Journal of Baltic Studies The Journal of Baltic Studies, the official journal of the Association for the Advancement of Baltic Studies (AABS), is a peer-reviewed multidisciplinary academic journal founded in 1970 and published quarterly by Routledge. It is dedicated to t ...

'' (Volume 40, issue no. 3) has published a review of ''The Case for Latvia'' by Lars Johannsen, Department of Political Science at

Aarhus University Aarhus University (, abbreviated AU) is a public research university. Its main campus is located in Aarhus, Denmark. It is the second largest and second oldest university in Denmark. The university is part of the Coimbra Group, the Guild, and Ut ...

, School of Business and Social Sciences; Violeta Davoliute,

Vytautas Magnus University Vytautas Magnus University (VMU) (, VDU) is a public university in Kaunas, Lithuania. The university was founded in 1922 during the interwar period as an alternate national university. Initially it was known as the University of Lithuania, but ...

; Allan Sikk, School of Slavonic and East European Studies,

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

; Harvey L. Hix,

University of Wyoming The University of Wyoming (UW) is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Laramie, Wyoming, United States. It was founded in March 1886, four years before the territory was admitted as the 44th state, ...

. The reviewer, Lars Johannsen is complimentary and describes the book over two pages. He starts by describing the book as a "spirited defense of Latvia", and says "The book is well written and will find its best audience among those who, like my students, have an interest in but little systematic knowledge of Latvia".

Book cover

The image on the cover of the book for both editions is of a drawing by Benita Plezere, who was deported on 25 May 1949 from

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...

, together with her family. She created drawings of their experiences during their travel, which she mailed as postcards to her grandmother. The drawings now are the property of the Museum of the Occupation of Latvia.

Languages and editions

Cross of Recognition

Reception

Book cover

References

Further reading