Six Days in August: The Story of Stockholm Syndrome
The definitive account of the bizarre hostage drama that gave rise to the term “Stockholm syndrome.”
On the morning of August 23, 1973, a man wearing a wig, makeup, and a pair of sunglasses walked into the main
branch of Sveriges Kreditbank, a prominent bank in central Stockholm. He ripped out a submachine gun, fired it into
the ceiling, and shouted, “The party starts!” This was the beginning of a six-day hostage crisis-and media circus-
that would mesmerize the world, drawing into its grip everyone from Sweden's most notorious outlaw to the prime
minister himself.

As policemen and reporters encircled the bank, the crime-in-progress turned into a high-stakes thriller broadcast
on live television. Inside the building, meanwhile, complicated emotional relationships developed between captors
and captives that would launch a remarkable new concept into the realm of psychology, hostage negotiation, and
popular culture.

Based on a wealth of previously unpublished sources, including rare film footage and unprecedented access to the
main participants, Six Days in August captures the surreal events in their entirety, on an almost minute-by-minute
basis. It is a rich human drama that blurs the lines between loyalty and betrayal, obedience and defiance, fear and
attraction-and a groundbreaking work of nonfiction that forces us to consider “Stockholm syndrome” in an entirely
new light.
1133534073
Six Days in August: The Story of Stockholm Syndrome
The definitive account of the bizarre hostage drama that gave rise to the term “Stockholm syndrome.”
On the morning of August 23, 1973, a man wearing a wig, makeup, and a pair of sunglasses walked into the main
branch of Sveriges Kreditbank, a prominent bank in central Stockholm. He ripped out a submachine gun, fired it into
the ceiling, and shouted, “The party starts!” This was the beginning of a six-day hostage crisis-and media circus-
that would mesmerize the world, drawing into its grip everyone from Sweden's most notorious outlaw to the prime
minister himself.

As policemen and reporters encircled the bank, the crime-in-progress turned into a high-stakes thriller broadcast
on live television. Inside the building, meanwhile, complicated emotional relationships developed between captors
and captives that would launch a remarkable new concept into the realm of psychology, hostage negotiation, and
popular culture.

Based on a wealth of previously unpublished sources, including rare film footage and unprecedented access to the
main participants, Six Days in August captures the surreal events in their entirety, on an almost minute-by-minute
basis. It is a rich human drama that blurs the lines between loyalty and betrayal, obedience and defiance, fear and
attraction-and a groundbreaking work of nonfiction that forces us to consider “Stockholm syndrome” in an entirely
new light.
19.99 In Stock
Six Days in August: The Story of Stockholm Syndrome

Six Days in August: The Story of Stockholm Syndrome

by David King

Narrated by Jefferson Mays

Unabridged — 8 hours, 31 minutes

Six Days in August: The Story of Stockholm Syndrome

Six Days in August: The Story of Stockholm Syndrome

by David King

Narrated by Jefferson Mays

Unabridged — 8 hours, 31 minutes

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Overview

The definitive account of the bizarre hostage drama that gave rise to the term “Stockholm syndrome.”
On the morning of August 23, 1973, a man wearing a wig, makeup, and a pair of sunglasses walked into the main
branch of Sveriges Kreditbank, a prominent bank in central Stockholm. He ripped out a submachine gun, fired it into
the ceiling, and shouted, “The party starts!” This was the beginning of a six-day hostage crisis-and media circus-
that would mesmerize the world, drawing into its grip everyone from Sweden's most notorious outlaw to the prime
minister himself.

As policemen and reporters encircled the bank, the crime-in-progress turned into a high-stakes thriller broadcast
on live television. Inside the building, meanwhile, complicated emotional relationships developed between captors
and captives that would launch a remarkable new concept into the realm of psychology, hostage negotiation, and
popular culture.

Based on a wealth of previously unpublished sources, including rare film footage and unprecedented access to the
main participants, Six Days in August captures the surreal events in their entirety, on an almost minute-by-minute
basis. It is a rich human drama that blurs the lines between loyalty and betrayal, obedience and defiance, fear and
attraction-and a groundbreaking work of nonfiction that forces us to consider “Stockholm syndrome” in an entirely
new light.

Editorial Reviews

Minneapolis Star Tribune - Michael Schaub

"Electrifying…a thrilling look back at a robbery that remains one of the most bizarre crimes of the 20th century."

Scientific American

"[A] smart cross between a true-crime thriller and a psychological investigation."

Kirk Wallace Johnson

"A mesmerizing account, not only of the first bank heist to become a global media sensation as it was happening, but of how our understanding of ‘Stockholm syndrome’ is all wrong…Black humor, Scandinavian noir, and it’s all true."

Dan Bilefsky

"Reads like a movie…[King] is adept at teasing out the humanity of the criminals as well as their victims."

Kirkus Reviews

2020-04-20
A historian painstakingly reconstructs the crime that gave rise to the pop-psychological term Stockholm syndrome.

In August 1973, a furloughed Swedish convict armed with a submachine gun burst into a Stockholm bank and took four hostages, who, during their ordeal, seemed to grow attached to the gunman and a prison mate brought in at his request. The crime inspired the catchphrase Stockholm syndrome, which King defines as “the psychological tendency of a hostage to bond with, identify with, or sympathize with his or her captor.” It is often applied to high-profile kidnapping victims such as Patty Hearst and Elizabeth Smart. The “syndrome,” however, has been little studied and isn’t an officially recognized psychiatric condition; rather, it is “more a media phenomenon than a proper psychiatric diagnosis.” As such, King reconstructs the six-day standoff by drawing largely on sources other than academic studies, ranging from FBI materials to interviews with hostages and with gunman Jan-Erik “Janne” Olsson and his prison friend Clark Olofsson. In a suspenseful, chronological narrative, the author shows how missteps by the police, the media, and Prime Minister Olof Palme, combined with small acts of kindness by the hostage-takers, drew the group together. Early on, for example, the police barricaded the entrance to the bank vault in which the captors and captives hid, leaving the group with nothing to eat or drink, which made the hostage-takers look like heroes when authorities yielded to their demands for food. The most startling sign of a bond arose after the standoff ended when hostage Kristin Enmark asked captor Olofsson to father her child and was “devastated” when the resulting pregnancy was ectopic. King keeps a tight focus on ties that arise in hostage crises, but readers may suspect that some of his findings apply to the “terror bonding” that results from other crimes, such as domestic violence or child abuse.

A true-crime page-turner about one of the more notorious bank heists of the past half century. (8 page b/w photos)

Product Details

BN ID: 2940176146431
Publisher: Recorded Books, LLC
Publication date: 08/04/2020
Edition description: Unabridged
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