This is a book about H7 the symbol, about how King Haakon was able to become the greatest national hero modern Norway has known. When Norway was expected to yield to Nazism, the resistance mustered behind H7. The King’s ‘No!’ has become the stuff of legends since 1940, and King Haakon holds a unique place in Norwegian history. The book draws upon a wealth of sources from both the occupation years and the post-war period.

There are countless facets to Haakon 7: the people’s king, the democratically elected king, the communists’ king. At the same time, he is said to have opposed the politicians’ plans to scale back the army before the war, and the Conservatives relied on him when they believed the Labour Party was failing the country. In short, he was everybody’s king.