Norway in the Second World War: Politics, Society and Conflict

Covering political, military, economic and social history, Norway in the Second World War is the most authoritative book on the subject in the English language. This innovative study describes how the Germans conquered Norway in 1940 and the type of government that was then imposed. German organisations such as the Wehrmacht, the SS and the civilian Reichskommissariat are all presented, along with how they operated during the occupation. Ole Kristian Grimnes examines the Norwegian Nazi Party and the important role that it played during the period, as well as analysing how the Norwegian economy became integrated into the German war economy. The Norwegian resistance (including the Communists) and the Norwegian government-in-exile are explored in detail, while a separate chapter on the Holocaust in both Norwegian and international contexts is also included. As such, Norway in the Second World War is the definitive text on war and Nazi occupation in a nation that has been sorely neglected by the literature in the field until now.

Table of Contents:
Introduction Part 1 - A Country is Conquered 1. Into War 2. The Field Campaign, 1940 3. Struggle over the Occupation Part 2 - Occupied Norway 4. The Wehrmacht in Norway 5. The Reichskommissariat 6. SS and the Police 7. Quisling’s Party (Nasjonal Samling or NS) 8. In the Grip of War Economy 9. Life in an Occupied Society Part 3 - War and Resistance 10. Norway in Exile 11. The Struggle against the Nazi Revolution, 1940-1942 12. The Holocaust in Norway 13. Forced Labour and Mass-Arrests in 1943 14. The Home-Front and the Resistance 15. Norway’s Communist Party Part 4 - Towards the End 16. The North Norway Story 17. Germans and Quislings in Defeat Bibliography Index

About the Author :
Ole Kristian Grimnes is Professor Emeritus of History at University of Oslo, Norway. He is the author of numerous books and articles on the subject of Norwegian history.

Review :
The book’s contribution is to synthesize and systematize the research field. The author has an encyclopaedic knowledge of Norway 1940–1945 and shares his understanding and schemas with us ... Specialists will find information outside their expertise here or be able to admire the clarity of the presentation. For the serious student, the book will constitute a useful introduction. In concise yet dramatic prose Ole Kristian Grimnes delivers a nuanced history of Norway’s role in the European theatre of World War II. The master historian unscrambles the cultural, ideological, military, political and socio-economic elements of a complex historical puzzle, producing a lucid and comprehensive account for 21st-century readerships. Norway in the Second World War takes up the difficult questions that previous studies have often ignored and offers an authoritative history for the decades to come.