This book was conceived and researched during a sabbatical I spent in 2012–
2013 at the Institut fu¨r deutsches und europa¨isches Gesellschafts- und
Wirtschaftsrecht at the Faculty of Law at the University of Heidelberg. I thank
my long-time friend and colleague professor Peter-Christian Mu¨ller-Graff for
inviting me and taking me under his wings. I also thank my other colleagues at
the law faculty in Heidelberg for a wonderful time.
My year in Heidelberg was financially supported by the E.ON Stipendienfonds
and Norwegian Non-fiction Literature Fund.
I would like to thank J?rn Jacobsen, Kristen Rundle, and Erling Kielland, who all
read versions of my manuscript and contributed valuable comments. Also thanks to
colleagues in Bergen, Heidelberg, Helsinki, Mannheim, Oslo, and Vienna for
comments and discussions to my presentations of themes from the book.
The book draws on sources in several different languages. Unless otherwise
indicted the translations into English are by the author.