By Tor Ole Ree
In "Glasnostår på Svalbard", the author goes back to the late 1980s and early 1990s.
On the Norwegian archipelago in our Arctic north, "glasnost" and "perestroika" had their own stories. The new openness and restructuring in the Soviet Union also became visible in Svalbard. The characteristic communist wall posters in Barentsburg and Pyramiden were taken down in the summer of 1990.
There had been sporadic meetings and official exchanges between the Norwegian and Soviet settlements for many years before this. But
The years of glasnost brought an almost boundless optimism and faith in the future to the archipelago as well.
The second part of the book "Coal dust and light over glaciers" is independent stories related to Svalbard's history and recent times. Here there are sorrows
and joys, nostalgia and historical dives back to the discovery of the archipelago.
Longyearbyen is constantly changing, something the author touches on through descriptions of the coal mining community. The book uses terms and names as they were used in the years 1989 – 1995.
Today, the highest authority is called the Governor of Svalbard, which was previously the Governor of Svalbard.
