History of Denmark: A Captivating Guide to Danish History (Scandinavian History)

The history of Denmark as a unified kingdom began in the 8th century, but historic documents describe the geographic area and the people living there—the Danes—as early as 500 AD. These early documents include the writings of Jordanes and Procopius. With the Christianization of the Danes c. 960 AD, it is clear that there existed a kingship. Queen Margrethe II can trace her lineage back to the Viking kings Gorm the Old and Harald Bluetooth from this time, thus making the Monarchy of Denmark the oldest in Europe. The area now known as Denmark has a rich prehistory, having been populated by several prehistoric cultures and people for about 12,000 years, since the end of the last ice age.Geography influenced Denmark's evolution between the North and Baltic seas, a strategically and economically important placement between Sweden and Germany, at the center of mutual struggles for control of the Baltic Sea (dominium maris baltici). Denmark was long in disputes with Sweden over control of Skånelandene and with Germany over control of Schleswig (a Danish fief) and Holstein (a German fief). Moreover, the book analyses the reign of Christian IX and the German occupation during the Second World War (1939-1945). Denmark is an important Scandinavian County. A well-written book.

This is an excellent short history which hits the major highlights of Denmark's long history. It would be especially valuable to travelers who do not have time for extensive in-depth study of Danish history before they visit the country.

After reading other historical pieces about the danish land issues in the 1700s and early 1800s, this short book helped put the dynamics in perspective. Well worth the time to read.

difficult to read, print too small

While the country is inexorably linked to Europe generally, and Scandinavia in particular, much of the book originally focuses on countries other than Denmark - even Britain.Some of the text is a touch 'clumsy' and does not flow comfortably.Early on , there is rather lot of references to film and television episodes featuring Danish historical acts - which seem superfluous.There is mention of the strategic, but tragic, bombing of Shell House occupied by the Gestapo in WWII - but no mention of the fact that the bombing was carried out by the British air force.LOTS of information - just takes some dedication to get through it .,…

I found this ebook to be chock full of information, and it made me want to read more. I don't understand how some reviewers can't comprehend that this is a small ebook and not meant to be comprehensive. Also one reviewer couldn't understand how the contrast of unhappy Hamlet with Denmark being among the happiest countries in the world today is kind of stupefying. Highly recommend!

Excellent succinct summary of Denmark

Denmark is currently a fairly small country both in land and population. While it is not as influential now, in previous times, it was a dominant player in the politics of Northern Europe, mainly due to its geographic location. Although not oriented to Communist Ideology, it is still a very strong proponent of social equality and is perennially one of the ‘Happiest’ populations on Earth. In this book, Captivating History has done a good job of detailing Denmark’s varied and interesting 5000+ years of history and how it has evolved from the pre-Viking era up to its present-day Industrially advanced state.