Review by Martin Koenigsberg
If you were not a combatant, WWII had the potential to be a gold mine, even if you were occupied by a semi-friendly power, or two. Gisli Jokull Gislason, an Iceland Law Enforcement Officer and a Local Military Historian of WWII topics takes us all around the Iceland WWII experience in this fun little book. It’s filled with b/w photos of the period, showing the results of Britain’s early war occupation of the Island then just feeling its independence from Denmark. Iceland’s strategic position astride the cross Atlantic lifeline for the whole British Empire made holding its ports and its airfields absolutely vital. Mid-War, the US, with its much more robust supply echelons took over the occupation, and the Icelandic economy really expanded… Gislason flits from topic to topic created by the occupation and the roiling Battle of the Atlantic that swirled around Iceland, leaving the Island relatively untouched. Relations between British, and then American soldiers, sailors and marines and the locals varied greatly. The economy of the island, crushed by the Depression, rebounded and came to provide for everyone- and some newcomers. The diet of the population improved, and all sorts of modern conveniences came into the culture, sending quality of life skyward. When the author gives his book the subtitle “A Blessed War” the average reader may recoil, but he shows us that for this one country touched by war- but not by very much actual combat- this war was to prove a boon – and the basis for the relatively bustling economy they enjoy to this day. There are a few adult themes, but no graphic injury passages, so this is a good book for the Junior Reader over 11/12 years. For the Gamer/Modeler/Military Enthusiast, this book is an interesting resource- perhaps because the author is a noted Gamer and Modeler himself. The Gamer gets all the information you might need to use Iceland in a Victory at Sea, cruel seas, Blood Red Skies or other wargame scenario to game the Battle of the Atlantic. The Modeler gets a lot of diorama/build ideas. The Military Enthusiast gets a whole nation’s WWII experience boiled down to a packed 204 pages. I think the general audience reader will also appreciate seeing WWII from another view- that of a nation occupied by the Allies- and stronger now for it.
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