Hitler's Arctic War

A groundbreaking study of how war was waged in the far north of Finland, Norway, and the Soviet Union: "Well-illustrated and organized." —WWII History

According to Lieutenant-General Waldemar Erfurth of the German Army, the General Staff had taken no interest in the military history of the north and east of Europe, failing to imagine that someday German divisions might have to fight through the winter in northern Karelia and on the Murmansk coast. Yet, the German Army's first campaign in the far north was a great success. Between April and June 1940, with less than 20,000 men, they seized Norway, a state of three million people, with minimal losses.

Hitler's Arctic War is a study of the campaign waged by the Germans on the northern periphery of Europe between 1940 and 1945. As the book makes clear, the emphasis was on small-unit actions, with soldiers carrying everything they needed—food, ammunition, and medical supplies—on their backs. The terrain placed limitations on the use of tanks and heavy artillery, while lack of airfields restricted the employment of aircraft.


Also included is a chapter on the campaign fought by Luftwaffe aircraft and Kriegsmarine ships and submarines against the Allied convoys supplying the Soviet Union with aid. Yet, the book asserts, Wehrmacht resources committed to Norway and Finland were ultimately an unnecessary drain on the German war effort.


"Lavishly furnished with photographs . . . a gripping introduction to this very different war." —Pegasus Archive


"The authors effectively explain how soldiers dealt with the arctic conditions and the extensive hardships they endured while fighting at the top of the Continent . . . a good general history of the various operations in Norway, Finland, and the Soviet Union during the war." —WWII History