Preface and Part 1, Chapter I Summary

The Last Letter Home by Vilhelm Moberg is an emotional narrative about the lives of a Swedish family who immigrated to Minnesota, searching for a better life. Karl and Kristina Nilsson struggle to make their land support their family while raising their children in the midst of the Civil War and the Sioux war against white settlers. When Kristina dies, Karl must learn how to continue on without his helpmate of twenty years. The Last Letter Home is a novel that touches the heart as it details the trials that immigrants faced after enduring the difficulty of relocating their families halfway across the world.

The Preface: The Country That Changed Them explains that this is the last installment about a group of Swedish immigrants who settled in Minnesota where they created a new community, becoming...