Land of the Free Series

These works of historical fiction were published by The John C. Winston Company between 1948 and 1955. They are enjoyable reading for older, fluent readers--upper elementary through high school. Adults will also enjoy them!

Of the series, the publisher wrote:

"Each book in the series is an exciting story about a distinct national group from another country, and its finding of freedom in the new land. Today, America is what those people of many nationalities have made it and are still making it. Each group has brought its own important contributions to the building of a new and vigorous nation.

"The stories in THE LAND OF THE FREE series are all by foremost contemporary authors of literature for young people, with illustrations by nationally known artists. Although these distinguished books are published individually, they are designed in uniform format so that together they will offer a beautiful and universal set for every bookshelf.

"The editor of THE LAND OF THE FREE series is Erick Berry, whose many fine books in the juvenile field are already well known. As a writer, illustrator and traveler, she has acquired an unexcelled background worthy of the important project. For the series she has written and illustrated a book of her own--SEVEN BEAVER SKINS--which is a thrilling story of the Dutch who settled in New Amsterdam.

"The first series of its kind, each one is a superb story and a beautiful book."

• The Beckoning Hills, A Story of the Italians in Calfornia by Joseph H. Gage
• The Blowing Wand, A Story of Bohemian Glassmaking in Ohio by Elsie Reif Ziegler
• Chariot in the Sky, A Story of the Jubilee Singers by Arna Wendell Bontemps
• Climb a Lofty Ladder, A Story of Swedish Settlement in Minnesota by Walter and Marion Havighurst
• Colt of Destiny, A Story of the California Missions by Alida Malkus
• Deep Treasure, A Story of the Greek Sponge Fishers of Florida by Charles Minor Blackford
• Desert Harvest, A Story of the Japanese in California by Vanya Oakes
• Door to the North, A Saga of Fourteenth Century America by Elizabeth Jane Coatsworth
• Footprints of the Dragon, A Story of the Chinese and the Pacific Railways by Vanya Oakes
• I Heard of a River, A Story of the Germans in Pennsylvania by Elsie Singmaster
• The Last Fort, A Story of the French Voyageurs by Elizabeth Jane Coatsworth
• The Oak's Long Shadow, A Story of the Basque Sheepherders in Ohio by Olive Burt
• Runner in the Sun, A Story of Indian Maize by D'Arcy McNickle
• Seek the Dark Gold, A Story of the Scots Fur Traders by Jo Evalin Lundy
• Seven Beaver Skins, A Story of the Dutch in New Amsterdam by Erick Berry
• The Sign of the Golden Fish, A Story of the Cornish Fishermen in Maine by Gertrude Robinson
• The Silver Fleece, A Story of the Spanish in New Mexico by Florence Crannell Means and Carl Means
• Sing in the Dark, A Story of the Welsh in Pennsylvania by Maude Morgan Thomas
• Song of the Pines, A Story of Norwegian Lumbering in Wisconsin by Walter and Marion Havighurst
• They Planted Far Fields, A Story of the Representative Government in Virginia by Dorothea Stillman
• Tidewater Valley, A Story of the Swiss in Oregon by Jo Evalin Lundy
• Watergate, A Story of the Irish on the Erie Canal by Herbert Best