While the German invasion of Poland in September 1939 was a pivotal moment in European history and precipitated the outbreak of the Second World War western historiography has largely neglected Northern Europe. Two questions dominated the course of events, the Anglo-German contest for control of the access to the Atlantic Ocean and the Soviet-German contest for control of their former territories as a precursor to the future Total War they expected to wage against each other. This anthology of 23 essays considers both these issues collectively and provides a new international perspective on the region ́s transition from the relative peace of the interwar era to the all out war following the German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941. Contributors are Azar Gat, Michael Epkenhans, Andrew Lambert, Tom Kristiansen, Rolf Hobson, Gunnar ©selius, J©œrg Hillmann, Werner Rahn, S¿awomir D♯bski, Ole Kristian Grimnes, ♯eslovas Laurinavi♯ius, Alfred Erich Senn, Lars Ericson Wolke, Karl Erik Haug, Boris Vadimovich Sokolov, Toomas Hiio, Magnus Ilmj©Þrv, Palle Roslyng-Jensen ,Hans Christian Bjerg, Valters ¿ ♯erbinskis, Michael H. Clemmesen, and Marcus Faulkner.