With this book, Wiborg presents 'the great narrative' of Scandinavian education history, which is the history of comprehensive education. Based on an analysis which is much broader in scope than her predecessors, she offers a nuanced, insightful and rich theory of why Scandinavia diverted from Europe in pursuing education that integrates social cohesion and academic standards. - Alfred O. Telhaug, Professor, University of Oslo, Norway
Wiborg presents a clearly argued account of the complex interaction of politics and the events that have led some European countries to embrace a comprehensive ideal and others to reject it. Her understanding of the developments in the five chosen countries is impressive. This book is essential reading for all who are interested in comparative historical sociology and for those seeking to use theory to improve educational practice. - Peter Mortimore, Former Director of the Institute of Education, University of London and International Professor, University of Southern Denmark, 2008
Susanne Wiborg presents an extremely well-researched and highly detailed historiography of the political development of educational integration within Norway, Sweden, and Denmark, and to a lesser extent Germany and England. As such it is a valuable historical text on the comparative development of an important stage of integrated education policy. - Jacky Brine, University of the West of England, Bristol, UK, in the British Journal of Sociology of Education
The book certainly rises to its ambitious challenge. In fact, it has the potential to inspire other work in comparative education aimed at avoiding the determinism of previous grand sociological approaches to comparative education and insists, at the same time, on the necessity to develop theories that are valid across countries, thus underlining similarities, and not idiosyncrasies, in the process of educational change. - European Educational Research Journal