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E. I. Kouri and Jens E. Olesen, eds. The Cambridge History of Scandinavia. Vol. 2: 1520-1870. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2016. Pp. xxiv + 1152.
The current volume represents the second installment of a projected three-part history of Scandinavia, whose first part, covering the European North from prehistory to 1520, was published in 2003. This new installment traces the subsequent fate of the Scandinavian countries up to the final breakthrough of modern mass societies around 1870. The thirty-eight contributors are highly qualified experts in their fields, virtually all Scandinavian, and frequently already retired from their academic positions. Their impressive range of expertise, ranging from political and social to economic, military, cultural, religious, and population history, is reflected in the breadth of their individual contributions.
The more than 1,000 pages of core text are divided into nine sections. Part 1 examines the immense spiritual, social, and political impact of the Protestant Reformation on Scandinavian societies. This substantial section is followed by a briefer segment on demographic developments and their consequences for land use and economic advancement. The single longest segment of the book, accounting for over 400 pages, analyzes...