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Eirikur Bergmann explains the exceptional case of Iceland´s fantastical boom, bust and rapid recovery after the Crash of 2008 and explores the lessons for the wider EU crisis and for over-reaching economies that over-rely on financial markets.

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Introduction - Boom, Bust and Recovery PART I: RISE AND SHINE 1. Birth of a Nation - a Postcolonical Project 2. Coming of Age - Economic History 3. The Independent State - Foreign Relations PART II: BOOM AND BUST 4. The Nordic Tiger - Imagined Economic Miracle 5. Hot Air - Living on the Edge 6. The Crash - Collapse of the Cross Border Banks PART III: REVOLUTION AND RECOVERY 7. Pots-and-Pans Revolution - and Defiance Abroad 8. Rising from the Ruins - Fragile Economic Recovery 9. Reconstituting Iceland - and the New Critical Order Conclusion and Final Remarks

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Eirikur Bergmann is Professor of Politics and Director of Centre for European Studies at Bifröst University, Iceland. He is a leading expert on Iceland´s political economy and has published several books and many articles on Iceland´s foreign relations. In 2010 he was elected onto Iceland´s Constitutional Council, which had the task of writing a new constitution for the young republic.

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