Gordon F. Sander

Gordon F. Sander is a journalist and historian who has been visiting and writing about Finland and the Nordic region since 1977.  His articles and essays have appeared in The Washington Post, New York Review of Books, and many other general interest and scholarly publications. One of the best known and respected authorities on Nordic affairs and history in the English-speaking world, he is the author of eight books, including three about Finland: The Hundred Day Winter War, his best-selling history of the 1939-40 Fenno-Soviet Winter War, Off the Map: A Personal History of Finland, and most recently, The Note Crisis: Kekkonen, Kennedy, Khrushchev and the Cold War, his historical biography of Urho Kekkonen, the long-time president of Finland and his role in the pivotal 1961 Note Crisis, the culmination of six years of research in both Finland and the United States.

In 2017 Sander was knighted by President Sauli Niinistö for his services to Finland and international journalism, the first American writer to be so honored since World War II. He is also a Pulitzer Prize nominee. In addition to Finnish, Sander's works have also been translated into Dutch, Estonian and Portuguese.