Book excerpt: Based on exhaustive research, History of Norway is a clear, informative and entertaining description of Norway's history from the earliest cultures of the Stone Age to today's oil and gas economy. Along the way, there are fascinating stories of Vikings, the Sami, kings and queens, farmers and fishermen, merchants and miners, the Black Death, the Hanseatic merchants, the Reformation, independence, emigration from Norway to America, polar explorers, the Nazi invasion and the Norwegian resistance in World War II, and much more "John Yilek's History of Norway presents a clear, fast-moving, and sharply focused story of Norway from its beginnings to the present day." --Odell M. Bjerkness, Professor Emeritus, Concordia College, Moorhead, author of several books about Norway