This perennially popular book, now revised and expanded with additional historical photos and documents, offers a concise introduction to Wisconsin's Norwegian immigrants. The narrative examines the mass migration of Norwegians from 1837, when Ole Nattestad became the first Norwegian settler in Wisconsin, to the late nineteenth century, when Norwegian immigration largely came to a close. This volume demonstrates the efforts of immigrants to balance newfound American customs with the most treasured traditions of their homeland.

New to this edition are selected letters of Ole Munch Ræder, a scholar sent by the Norwegian government in 1847 to study the American legal system. Ræder visited several Wisconsin cities and villiages and paid special attention to the Norwegian community. His compelling accounts, which appeared in newspapers in Norway, offer a contemporary view of Norwegian life in Wisconsin.

In 1827, almost overnight, the lead-bearing region of southwestern Wisconsin was flooded by English-speaking miners and settlers who founded the settlement of Mineral Point. Originally known as Shake Rag Under the Hill, it quickly became the booming capital of the mining area.  In a few years’ time the outpost’s fame had spread throughout the upper Mississippi Valley, bringing English miners emigrating from Cornwall to set their stamp forever on the architecture and the social life of Mineral Point. Eventually lead mining gave way to zinc, and Mineral Point was surpassed in size and importance by other Wisconsin towns; but the charm of its hills and the grace of its houses remained, a historical legacy from the settlers of territorial Wisconsin. This is the story of Mineral Point from its origins to the mid-twentieth century, when a rekindled interest in the area’s storied past began with the restoration of Pendarvis House.

On December 11, 1941, All-American football player Dave Schreiner wrote to his parents, "I'm not going to sit here snug as a bug, playing football, when others are giving their lives for their country. ... If everyone tried to stay out of it, what a fine country we'd have!" Schreiner didn't stay out of it. Neither did his Wisconsin Badger teammates, including friend and co-captain Mark "Had" Hoskins and standouts "Crazylegs" Hirsch and Pat Harder. After that legendary 1942 season, the Badgers scattered to serve, fight, and even die around the world.

This fully revised edition of the popular hardcover includes follow-up research and updates about many of the '42 Badgers, plus a new foreword by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author David Maraniss. Readers and reviewers agree: Terry Frei's heart-wrenching story of Schreiner and his band of brothers is much more than one team's tale. It's an All-American story.