The Scandinavian theatre of WW2 is often overlooked as a peripheral area of limited significance, yet this book demonstrates its strategic importance and the considerable resources which both sides were obliged to commit there, despite the extraordinary challenges of moving and supplying armies in horrendous weather across utterly remote, inaccessible terrain. Much of it concerns the remarkable efforts of the ... Read moreFinns, in resisting the Russian invasion of 1939, the later fighting alongside their German Allies to destabilise Stalin's northern flank, and their ultimately successful struggle to preserve their independence in the face of inevitable defeat. The book also describes the invasion o f Norway in 1940, and Hitler's obsession with this country which, despite desperate need elsewhere, remained garrisoned by an extremely large force until the end of the War. A large chapter is devoted to the British Arctic Convoys, which ran a perilous gauntlet of bombers, u-boats and battleships, to bring desperately needed supplies to Russia. Each of these are enormous subjects in their own right and so this book can only be seen as an overview, yet it is lavishly furnished with photographs, and the concise narrative provides a gripping introduction to this very different war.
Pegasus Archive Well illustrated and organized... The authors effectively explain how soldiers dealt with the arctic conditions and the extensive hardships they endured while fighting at the top of the Continent. The book is a good general history of the various operations in Norway, Finland, and the Soviet Union during the war.
WWII History Show Less