Measuring the Master Race: Physical Anthropology in Norway,

The notion of a superior ‘Germanic’ or ‘Nordic’ race was a central theme in the ideology of the Nazis. But it was also a commonly accepted idea in the early twentieth century, and an actual scientific concept originating from anthropological research on the physical characteristics of Europeans. The Scandinavian Peninsula was considered to be the historical cradle and the core area of this ‘master race’.
This book investigates the role played by Scandinavian scholars in inventing this so-cal...