Edgeir Reidar Benum is a Norwegian historian.

He was born in Verdal

Verdal

Verdal is a municipality in Nord-Trøndelag county, Norway. It is part of the Innherad region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Verdalsøra...

, and is the younger brother of athlete Pål Benum. He graduated from the University of Oslo

University of Oslo

The University of Oslo , formerly The Royal Frederick University , is the oldest and largest university in Norway, situated in the Norwegian capital of Oslo. The university was founded in 1811 and was modelled after the recently established University of Berlin...

 with a cand.philol. degree in 1967, and worked as a scholarship holder there from 1968 to 1972. He then became a professor in history at the University of Tromsø

University of Tromsø

The University of Tromsø is the world's northernmost university. Located in the city of Tromsø, Norway, it was established in 1968, and opened in 1972. It is one of eight universities in Norway. The University of Tromsø is the largest research and educational institution in northern Norway...

 from 1972 to 1980 and then at the University of Oslo

University of Oslo

The University of Oslo , formerly The Royal Frederick University , is the oldest and largest university in Norway, situated in the Norwegian capital of Oslo. The university was founded in 1811 and was modelled after the recently established University of Berlin...

 since 1980. He has twice been a visiting scholar at the University of California, Berkeley

University of California, Berkeley

The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...

. He is a member of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters

Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters

The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters is a learned society based in Oslo, Norway.-History:The University of Oslo was established in 1811. The idea of a learned society in Christiania surfaced for the first time in 1841. The city of Throndhjem had no university, but had a learned...

.

Selected bibliography

This is a list of his most notable works:

• Maktsentra og opposisjon. Spaniasaken i Norge 1946-47, 1969.
• Sentraladministrasjonens historie. volume 2, 1979.
• Byråkratienes by. Fra 1948 til våre dager. volume 5 of Oslo bys historie, 1994.
• Overflod og fremtidsfrykt, volume 12 of Aschehougs norgeshistorie, 1998.