The Uprising

Volume two of Linna's trilogy Under the North Star, entitled The Uprising, is the most powerful novel ever about the 1918 Civil War of Finland, which erupted only a month and a half after Finland's Declaration of Independence.

This part focuses largely upon the fiery eldest of the Koskela sons, Akseli Koskela, who has grown up to become a leader. The social unrest, the class conflict, erupts into a war between Finns, between the haves and the have-nots, even between neighbors. The voices of reason and the voices of hatred are heard clearly in Pentinkulma. The inhumane events of Finland's Civil War affect Pentinkulma and the Koskelas in dramatic fashion. With deep insight and a strong commitment to truth Linna describes how the victors handled the aftermath of the three-month war, the pseudo-trials, the executions, and the prison camps. This most famous and penetrating novel dealing with the Civil War in Finland is also the centerpiece of Linna's trilogy Under the North Star I-III.