This concise account traces the history of the Scandinavian countries from earliest times to the present, emphasizing common features in their heritage and in their contribution to the modern world. T. K. Derry has a two-fold aim: to describe each country's history, traditions, and way of life and, in addition, to examine the political development of the five nations in the context of the whole Nordic region. He covers the dramatic early history of the region, but his principal focus is upon the 19th and 20th centuries.