This is a thoroughly researched compendium of information on a topic of value to those interested in Swedish emigration to the US, to migration studies researchers, and to genealogists looking for ancestors who came to the US during these years, but it won't be of interest to the general reader or (as a purchase) to anyone merely hoping to find their genealogy in it.

Olsson has listed all the ships and their passengers for the years 1820 to 1850, and where possible found the origins of the passengers in Swedish parish records, so is a great help in tracing these individuals or exploring the types, classes and relationships of people who were part of this very early phase in the great migration from Sweden to the New World.

This book is the result of painstaking research, but will only be of interest to historians of emigration and to those family historians seeking Swedish ancestors who arrived in the US during the period in the title. It is certainly easier than using the passenger lists in the US National Archives -- provided you know that the person you want was a Swede and came during those years.

If what you want is a more general description of the Swedish emigration to the New World, this is not the book to get.