"A different version of this book was published in Norwegian by H. Aschehoug in spring 2001. In preparing the English version, I considered the possibility of trying to erase every visible trace of its Scandinavian origin, replacing all examples and all local flavour with UK or US equivalents ... Instead, I have opted for a compromise, replacing those Scandinavian examples which do not make sense out of context ... but keeping others"--P. ix.