Hitler's Vikings: The History of the Scandinavian Waffen-SS: The Legions, the SS-Wiking and the SS-Nordland (Hitler's Legions)

While I have had a general interest in this topic for years, the only full text I have read is Strassner's `European Volunteers' (which was fairly dry). I was pleased therefore to see the author provide some good context in terms of the dispositions of ethnic Germans and the SS's efforts to utilize it. There is also informative material on the Right-wing movements in the Scandinavian countries and the principal personalities. The impact of Finland's Winter War is also examined, as well as the German invasions of Norway and Denmark. It was a good introduction to the pre-war circumstances and it put a lot of later developments into perspective.The emergence of a Scandinavian contribution to Germany's war effort is very interesting. The motives cited by Nordic men to join the SS varied but backgrounds in pre-war Right-wing groups and concerns about Soviet intentions towards Europe dominated. There was also a simple admiration for German arms, which ironically was sometimes confounded by German arrogance and discrimination, leading to inadequate training with very negative results. These discouragements were sometimes compounded by significant levels of opposition from families. While volunteering was never strong, the invasion of Russia did cause a spike but as the war situation declined this declined dramatically.Of principal interest to myself and most readers though is the coverage of the war participation of the Nordic volunteers. They are usually associated of course with the Wiking and Nordland SS divisions but Trigg shows that many Nordics served exclusively in separate national legions and never constituted a majority in the iconic divisions. Trigg covers the combat history of all the formations, with the focus on the experiences of Nordic personnel, even in units where they were a minority (Wiking particularly after 1943). The battles are illustrated with a reasonable smattering of first-hand accounts by veterans, some of which are very good, beefed up with award citations, after action reports and so on. This primary source material is complimented by many photos and overall provided a solid account of these actions, at least as far as the Nordic troops were involved. It must be said that sources are scant for later battles but this reflects both the small number of Scandinavians actually involved and the high casualties they suffered in the collapse of the Reich.A real strength of the book for me was the statistics on the numbers of Nordics in the various unit incarnations at different times. While numbers overall seem significant, in reality, aside from the national legions being battalion strength units, they were in effect quite modest. Wiking for instance never mustered much more than 10% Nordics and even when most of the volunteers were united in Nordland in 1943, they amounted to only 2,500 of the division's total of 12,000 men. The ferocity of the fighting then caused casualties to be incurred faster than new volunteers came forward and were particularly serious in regards to officers and NCOs. The author also has much interesting material on unit composition, roles and even equipment. Finally he examines the post-war repercussions faced by the surviving volunteers.As I said above I'm not an expert on this subject but I thought this book was a very good introduction to this topic. It covered the relevant history and the key battles. I am not familiar with the authors other books in his series but I found his writing, with occasional informal moments, to be fine. I enjoyed `Hitler's Vikings' and I recommend it to others who would like to learn more about this area of history.

Not recommended. Overall, the text gives the impression that it was written at high speed, and published as quickly as possible. It needed the services of a good editor. For example, the sentences are often too long, and contain more than one idea. In contrast, I was taught that an academic sentence should contain only one idea. Also, I was disturbed by the author's careless use of terms. For example, he refers to an officer in an early Nordic SS unit as a "neo-Nazi". However, neo-Nazism is a post-1945 phenomenon. So, the officer was in fact a first-generation Nazi. Therefore, the author's imprecise use of language leads me to question the accuracy of his academic research. Likewise, the use of contractions (e.g. "didn't) and other informal constructions is not appropriate in a serious scholarly work. A good editor could have corrected these faults perhaps ?

Have to be interested in the Eastern Front and the non German SS units. I have been in the Baltic republics and most of the Scandinavian countries so am interested why and how these people chose to fight for the Germans in the second world war. Writing is good but this is book is written for the general reader and not up to the standard of some of the recent books written by international respected historians. For the amount of data the book is an expensive and not a good value ebook.However, it is a good quick enjoyable read.

This book, as one reviewer mentioned, has it's informal moments but that doesn't detract from the book at all; in fact that's what makes it what I believe to be one of the best books I've read on W.W. II, and the SS specifically. The author also gives some basic background on the rise of nationalistic/fascist/ movements in the Nordic countries, why the men joined, and what motivated (those that did) to stay. One of the best points of the book is the author's light biased concerning the SS, Hitler, and the fascist movements in Europe, and the Nordic countries in particular.

Good book.

The book covers the history of Norwegian and men/women from other Scandinavian/European countries who joined ranks with the fanatics of SS during WW2 in a good way. A must for those interested in WW2 history.

As a Scandinavian-American, I found this book to be an excellent and much needed addition to the broader history of World War II. Trigg's research and writing is clearly a tribute to that of Paul Carrell. I look forward to reading more of Trigg's books.

Well written book on both these formation from development to boths better end covering the fighting on the eastern front where both units served and their destruction at the end,both try to make it to the west but only one formation makes it intact to the west the other unit is split in half in berlin.

This book records the history of Den Norske Legion, the Frikorps Danmark and two Waffen SS Divisions: Wiking and Nordland. It takes a straightforward, factual approach and does not seek to imbue these formations with any spurious glamour. Although its structure is somewhat problematic, the book is quite readable and it addresses a subject – the role of Scandinavians (not only Danes and Norwegians, but also Swedes) in German military service during the Second World War – which is not particularly well-covered by works in English. Trigg has obviously done his research, and the book is full of interesting detail. For anyone who wants to know more about the activities (and motivations) of the Scandinavians in German uniform than can be found in the usual histories of the Waffen SS, this book is undoubtedly worth a read.

Excellent book, the fourth in the series. Scandinavians with a strong anti communist/soviet russia outlook intially join national legions and subsequently the Waffen SS and fight on the eastern front. Appalling loss of life amongst their number. Whats interesting in all the books of the series is how the returning veterans fair when they return to their homelands. The authors enthusiasm for the subject shines through and its all written in a very readable style of writing, informative without being long winded. Just a very minor quibble re the photos. In this book they are spaced throughout rather than being concentrated within the center like the others and the quality is not great, probably due to the extent of the narrative and space allowed by the publisher but this in no way lessens the book which is well worth the money.

Nice

Book was interesting to read as my father was with Waffen SS Norge in Berlin - they knew they would be dying, there was no captivity or freedom and his Major, a Dane, decided they would fight their way out - they did so to the North West surrendering to Highlanders 9/10th May 1945

An interesting account very thorough with plenty of facts and details of participants. A very interesting read a must for history buffs interested in this period in time.