Key books: a brief Hammarskjöld bibliography

by Dag Hammarskjöld

Dag Hammarskjöld, Public Papers of the Secretaries-General of the United Nations, Volumes II-V, edited with extensive commentary by Andrew W. Cordier and Wilder Foote. Columbia University Press: New York, 1972-1975. Abbreviated at this site as Public Papers.

Dag Hammarskjöld, Markings, trans. Leif Sjöberg and W.H. Auden. London: Faber and Faber, 1964; New York: Knopf, 1964. Originally published in Swedish as Vägmärken, Bonniers: Stockholm, 1963.

Translations of Vägmärken are available in numerous languages, including French (Jalons, 1966); Spanish (Marcas en el camino, 1965); Italian (Linea della vita, 1966); Finnish (Kiinnekohtia, 1964); and the expertly presented and annotated revised German edition, Zeichen am Weg, 2011, with a valuable introduction by Manuel Fröhlich.

Bernhard Erling, A Reader’s Guide to Dag Hammarskjöld’s Waymarks. Privately published: St. Peter, Minnesota, 1999. Available online at www.dhf.uu.se. (This is a deliberately literal translation of the Swedish text with extensive commentary.)

Marie-Noëlle Little, ed. and trans. (with William C. Parker), The Poet and the Diplomat: The Correspondence of Dag Hammarskjöld and Alexis Leger. Syracuse University Press: Syracuse (NY), 2001.

Biographies and critical studies

Brian Urquhart, Hammarskjold. Knopf: New York, 1972 (the masterful biography by a long-term member of Hammarskjöld’s inner circle at the UN). Abbreviated as Urquhart (1).

Susan Williams, Who Killed Hammarskjöld? The UN, the Cold War, and White Supremacy in Africa. Columbia University Press: New York, 2011 (the powerful renewal of inquiry, with new evidence)

Manuel Fröhlich, Political Ethics and the United Nations: Dag Hammarskjöld as Secretary-General. Routledge: Abingdon (UK) and New York, 2008. This is a compact version of Dag Hammarskjöld und die Vereinten Nationen: Die politische Ethik des UNO-Generalsekretärs. Schoeningh Ferdinand: Paderborn, 2002

Manuel Fröhlich, “‘The Unknown Assignation’: Dag Hammarskjöld
in the Papers of George Ivan Smith,” Critical Currents, 2:2008, 9-35

Joseph P. Lash, Dag Hammarskjöld: Custodian of the Brushfire Peace. Doubleday: Garden City (NY), 1961 (outstanding early biography by a journalist long on the UN ‘beat’ and trusted by Hammarskjöld).

Emery Kelen, Hammarskjöld. Putnam: New York, 1966 (biography by a long-term UN member of staff, awkward in places but with eyewitness insights)

Sten Söderberg, Hammarskjöld: a pictorial biography. Viking: New York, 1962 (an excellent resource)

Bo Beskow, Dag Hammarskjöld: Strictly Personal. A portrait. Doubleday: Garden City (NY), 1969 (the unique insights of a friend)

Rajeshwar Dayal, Mission for Hammarskjöld: The Congo Crisis, Princeton University Press: Princeton, NJ, 1976

Rajeshwar Dayal, A Life of Our Times, Orient Longman: New Delhi, 1998 (the statesman's autobiography, with important pages on Hammarskjöld)

Paul R. Nelson, Courage of Faith: Dag Hammarskjöld's Way in Quest of Negotiated Peace, Reconciliation and Meaning, European University Studies, Peter Lang: Frankfurt, 2006

The Legacy of Dag Hammarskjöld, development dialogue, 1987:1. Available online at www.dhf.uu.se.

Dag Hammarskjöld and the 21st Century, development dialogue, 2001:1. Available online at www.dhf.uu.se.

Documentary film

Visions of a Secretary-General: Dag Hammarskjöld and the United Nations 1953-1961. A film by Stig Holmqvist, produced by Göran Gunér. Athenafilm (Sweden). Available through www.athenafilm.se.

On Hammarskjöld’s spirituality

Gustaf Aulén, Dag Hammarskjöld's White Book: An Analysis of "Markings". Fortress: Philadelphia, 1969

Sven Stolpe, Dag Hammarskjöld: A Spiritual Portrait. Scribner: New York, 1966

Henry P. Van Dusen, Dag Hammarskjöld: The Statesman and His Faith. Harper & Row: New York, 1967

Roger Lipsey, “Dag Hammarskjöld and Markings: A Reconsideration,” Spiritus
11:3 (Spring 2011), 84–103

Roger Lipsey, “Blessed Uneasiness: Dag Hammarskjöld on Conscience,” Parabola
22:3 (August 1997), 47–57

Roger Lipsey, “Desiring Peace: A Meditation on Why Dag Hammarskjöld Matters,”
Parabola 35:3 (Fall 2010), 20–29

Roger Lipsey, “For the Other Mahatma,” Parabola 21:3 (August 1996), 12–17

Roger Lipsey, “Freedom in the Midst of Action: United Nations Leader Dag
Hammarskjöld and Buddhism,” Tricycle, Fall 2012, 80–83

In Swedish

Karl E. Birnbaum, Dag Hammarskjöld: Ungdomsårens vittnesbörd, Brev och uppteckningar 1925-1931. Kungl. Samfundet: Stockholm, 2001

Kaj Falkman, En orörd sträng: Dag Hammarskjölds liv i haiku och fotografier. Ordfront: Stockholm, 2005. (This book can also be found in an English-language edition.)

Kaj Falkman, ed., Ringar efter orden—femton röster kring: Dag Hammarskjölds Vägmärken. Ellerströms: Lund, 2005

Lisbeth Gustafsson, ed., Möten med Dag Hammarskjölds Vägmärken. Cordia: Örebro, 2005

Mats Svegfors, Dag Hammarskjöld: Den förste moderne svensken. Norstedts: Stockholm, 2005

Bengt Thelin, Dag Hammarskjöld: Barnet, Skopojken, Studenten. Carlsson: Stockholm, 2005

Other studies

Sten Ask and Anna Mark-Jungkvist, eds., The Adventure of Peace: Dag Hammarskjöld and the Future of the UN. Palgrave Macmillan: London, 2005 (an important publication by numerous authors for the centenary celebration of Hammarskjöld’s birth; also with Swedish edition)

Ralph J. Bunche, Selected Speeches and Writings, ed. Charles P. Henry, University of Michigan Press: Ann Arbor, 1995

Arthur L. Gavshon, The Last Days of Dag Hammarskjöld. Barrie & Rockliffe: London, 1963 (an early contribution to the investigation of the air crash in context)

Marie-Noëlle Little, “Ezra Pound, and Dag Hammarskjöld’s Quiet Diplomacy,” in critical currents 2, March 2008; also available on line at www.dhf.uu.se

Ezra Pound, trans. and commentary, Confucius: The Great Digest, The Unwobbling Pivot, The Analects, New Directions: New York, 1951 (with subsequent printings)

Brian Urquhart, Ralph Bunche: An American Life, Norton: New York, 1993