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Considered one of Swedens greatest 20th-century writers, Vilhelm Moberg created Karl Oskar and Kristina Nilsson to portray the joys and tragedies of daily life for early Swedish pioneers in America. His consistently faithful depiction of these humble peoples lives is a major strength of the Emigrant Novels.Mobergs extensive research in the papers of Swedish emigrants in archival collections, including the Minnesota Historical Society, enabled him to incorporate many details of pioneer life. First published between 1949 and 1959 in Swedish, these four books were considered a single work by Moberg, who intended that they be read as documentary novels. These editions contain introductions written by Roger McKnight, Gustavus Adolphus College, and restore Mobergs bibliography not included in earlier English editions.Book 4 portrays the Nilsson family during the turmoil of living through the era of the Civil War and Dakota Conflict and their prospering in the midst of Minnesotas growing Swedish community of the 1860s-90s.Its important to have Mobergs Emigrant Novels available for another generation of readers.Bruce Karstadt, American Swedish Institute