Book excerpt: Society, Schools and Progress in Scandinavia is one of a mutually supporting series of books on SOCIETY, SCHOOLS AND PROGRESS in a number of important countries or regions. Society, schools, and progress are here surveyed in the world's most significant countries not simply for reasons of technological or political strength, but because of the widely relevant decisions in education now being taken. The present volume is intended to give students and other persons interested in Scandinavia sufficient information and comment to begin to understand the contemporary scene in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. The book opens with an overview of Scandinavia—its geography, social policy and welfare, politics and administration, and tradition and contemporary policy. This is followed by separate chapters on education in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, covering administration, the school system, family influences, and background social forces. The final chapter presents an evaluation of progress and change in Scandinavia.