Huntford analyzes the political and social climate of early 1970s Sweden, and argues that it resembles a benevolent totalitarian state in the mould of Aldous Huxley's Brave New World.
The main thesis was that the Swedish government relied less upon the violence and intimidation of the old totalitarians than upon subtle persuasion and soft manipulation in order to achieve its goals.
Huntford argues that this had led to the complete dominance of socialist thought at all levels of the government; including the bureaucracy and the judiciary; which were controlled by a powerful interconnecting network of Social Democratic labour unions, lobby groups, and partisan organizations.
He also points to the fact that these networks had made it very difficult for non-socialists to achieve any position of real power in Sweden, but noted that few Swedes seemed to view this politicization of their state with concern.
He thus argues that the country's political culture and institutions were very much the product of a unique socio-political context, and thus not applicable to otherwise comparable Western nations.