Hitler's Pre-Emptive War: The Battle for Norway, 1940, by Henrik O. Lunde

Philadelphia: Casemate, 2009. Pp. x, 590. Illus., maps., append., notes, biblio., index. $34.95. ISBN:1932033920.

A very detailed, well illustrated, look at what was the first "joint" operation of the Second World War, the highly risky and amazingly successful German invasion of Norway in April of 1940. 

It opens with two chapters that set the political, strategic, and military background of the campaign, Allied and German.  What follows is a comprehensive account of what was one of the most complex campaigns of the war, with land-sea-and air operations by often quite small forces in a theater that sprawled some 1,500 miles north-to-south, characterized by rough terrain and extreme weather.   Battle pieces are detailed, and some are quite vivid. 

Worth reading for anyone interested in World War II, joint operations, or merely a good war story.

Buy it at Amazon.com