Cross and Scepter

Cross and Scepter: The Rise of the Scandinavian Kingdoms from the Vikings to the Reformation by Sverre Bagge, 299 pages

This is a history of the development of the nations of Denmark, Sweden, and Norway, from the formation of the first kingdoms in the late first millennium to the final failure of the medieval attempts at unity with the final dissolution of the Union of Kalmar.  Finland, Iceland, Greenland, and the Orkneys are only briefly mentioned, and only considered in any detail when evidence there sheds light on contemporary conditions in the central kingdoms.

This might have made a dramatic story of conversion and ambition, feuds and assassinations, but instead it comes across here as merely a dry compilation of facts.  Bagge presents a thorough exposition of current scholarship on medieval Scandinavia and state formation, but it is a chore to read.