Content area
Full Text
Hitler's Pre-emptive War: The Battle for Norway, 1940. By Henrik O. Lunde. Philadelphia: Casemate Publishers, 2008. 582 pages. $34.95. Reviewed by Henry G. Gole, author of General William E. DePuy: Preparing the Army for Modern War and other books.
Henrik O. Lunde, a retired Army colonel, brings relevant professional and personal qualifications to his comprehensive, detailed, and original study of the clash be- tween Germany and the hastily established coalition of Britain, France, and Norway during the 1940 Norwegian campaign. His experience includes combat command and operations at the tactical level, political-military assignments, and teaching strategy at the US Army War College. Native fluency in Norwegian, German, and English, to which he added French, enabled him to examine sources in those languages.
This large book will fuel debate, particularly in Britain and Norway. Exhaustive research and intellectual detachment enable the author to bring objectivity and a fresh interpretation to a subject that has been until now laden with national self-justification. He is scrupulous in basing his analysis on what was known to the actors at the time of decision. Lucid presentation allows the reader to absorb, without conscious effort, the details essential to Lunde's story. He holds the reader's interest while progressing seamlessly from political and strategic decisions to theater operations and tactics of the various national forces engaged, including describing and...