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Historical person

Haakon VII of Norway

1872–1957

Haakon VII was the first king of independent Norway after the dissolution of the union with Sweden in 1905. Born Prince Carl of Denmark in 1872, he was a son of the future Frederick VIII and married Princess Maud, daughter of Britain’s Edward VII. When the Norwegian throne was offered to him, he insisted that the choice be confirmed by popular vote and adopted the historic Norwegian royal name Haakon, helping the new monarchy present itself as constitutional and national rather than imposed from abroad.

Haakon’s defining political role came during the German invasion of 1940. He supported the government’s refusal to accept German demands and declined to appoint Vidkun Quisling as prime minister, a stance that made him a powerful symbol of legitimate resistance. The king and government eventually escaped to Britain and continued the war from exile while Norway remained occupied. Haakon returned to Oslo in June 1945 to enormous public acclaim and remained king until his death in 1957, by then closely identified with Norway’s democratic constitutional order.

In James R. Benn’s Billy Boyle, As plans are discussed for an invasion of occupied Norway, he must learn quickly which evidence matters and whether an apparently ordinary Boston cop can survive political pressure, deception and wartime violence.

Series

Historical novels and book series featuring Haakon VII of Norway (1 series)

A Billy Boyle WWII Mystery in Order

by James R. Benn 21 books 4.3(37,288)

Boston police detective Billy Boyle expects a safe wartime posting when family connections place him on the staff of General Dwight D. Eisenhower. Instead, Eisenhower uses Billy as a military investigator, sending him to solve murders, thefts and intelligence failures that could damage Allied operations or expose politically…

All books in this series