• This edition includes the following editor’s introduction: Robert Michael Ballantyne, the Scottish master of the adventure genre for young people

First published in 1872, ‘The Norsemen in the West’ (
AKA The Norsemen in the West, or America Before Columbus) is a historical and adventure novel by Scottish author Robert Michael Ballantyne.
In ‘The Norsemen in the West, ‘ Ballantyne transforms into engaging historical fiction the well-known facts of the Icelandic Saga -stories of exploration and adventure, blessed marriage, alternating turmoil and peace with indigenous people- all sprinkled with delightful and humorous stories of day-to-day life surrounding the first European ground breaking in America.
The novel carries readers back nearly a thousand years in time, to the days of Leif Ericsson and the early settlements of the seafaring Norsemen. Journey from the shores of Greenland to earliest-recorded America, a plentiful land of lush forests, crystal clear lakes and rivers and abundant fish and game.