I Chose Denmark

by Francis Hackett

I chose Denmark is the personal history of a distinguished man of letters who came to love one of the world's most peaceful and admirable countries and chose it as his home. Francis Hackett first knew Denmark when it was reuniting with Slesvig in 1919. Already Denmark, reduced economically to a "have-not" nation in 1864, had eschewed militarism and the political dogmas that had led other European countries to disaster, and had laid the foundations for a model democratic society which has become a symbol of the good life for all the civilized peoples of the world. During the years that followed, Mr. Hackett observed the social achievements of a balanced and constructive people, who by voluntary enterprise built up an ideal society with the highest cultural standards, the highest public health record, the most peaceful domestic life in the world. He came to know the lovable Danish character, he saw the pleasant daily life of Denmark's farms and cities, and he studied the humane and rational manner in which social problems were solved. He experienced democracy in operation, and this beautifully written and moving book is not merely a record of the Denmark which Hackett knew, but a personal confession of faith in a way of life which, having existed, cannot be destroyed by the accidents of history. The Nazi invasion of Denmark is a personal tragedy to the author and to men of good will everywhere; but in offering himself as a witness for Denmark, Francis Hackett proclaims that the loss cannot be irrevocable.

Hardcover

Published January 1, 1941

About the author

Francis Hackett was born in Kilkenny, Ireland in 1883 to the daughter of a farmer and a medical officer. He is most famous for writing a detailed book about Henry VIII but was also a noted critic and published several other books most of which were either non-fiction or biographies.

He was educated in St Kieran's College, where Thomas MacDonagh was his teacher.

He married the Danish writer Signe Toksvig, and the couple lived in Ireland in the early years of the State, and then moved to Denmark, to the US during World War II, and back to Denmark.

"Hackett immigrated to the United States in 1901 for various reasons, among them being his dissatisfaction with the British Government ruling Ireland, and his family’s inability to finance his college education. When he arrived in New York he published articles in Standish O’Grady’s All Ireland Review, Arthur Griffith’s United Irishman, and Samuel Richardson’s The Gael. Hackett took a series of jobs as a clerk in a law firm, for the advertising department of Cosmopolitan Magazine, and literary editor of various periodicals, such as the Chicago Evening Post. In 1906 Hackett moved into Hull-House and taught English to Russian Immigrants. As writer and critic, Hackett attacked Chicago’s genteel and commercial cultures, racism, and the subordination of women. He left his position as literary editor of the Post in 1911 to pursue a career as a novelist."

-Wikipedia