Books in World landmark books, W-50 series

Historian, scholar, and award-winning author Milton Meltzer outlines the struggle of African Americans for "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness," starting with the landing of the first slave ships on colonial shores. How did over 300 years of slavery, segregation, and Jim Crow laws come to an end in the civil rights movement of the 1960s? What was achieved, and what are the problems still facing us today?

Author Linda Lowery chronicles the extraordinary–but little-known–life of black pioneer Aunt Clara Brown. Aunt Clara bought herself out of slavery, crossed the country on foot to reach the frontier, became a wealthy entrepreneur, aided other freed slaves, and eventually tracked down her lost daughter, sold away from Clara 47 years before. An inspiring piece of American history.

Five hundred years before Columbus, a young Viking named Leif Eriksson crossed the Atlantic and became the first known European to set foot in North America. The tale of the crossing and the brief Viking settlement in North America has been passed down for a thousand years. Now, Elizabeth Cody Kimmel retells it to a new audience, painting a vivid picture of what Eriksson might have experienced on his great Viking expedition.From the Hardcover edition.

From the very first passenger train to roll down the tracks in 1825 to the advent of today’s high-speed trains, the railroad has been and is still one of the most vital forces in civilization. Focusing on American railroad history but touching on other countries, award-winning author Milton Meltzer shows how something as ubiquitous as the railroad is, in fact, a force that changed the world.Praise for There Comes a Time by Milton Meltzer:“Readers of every ethnicity will leave this book with a more inspired understanding of what it means to be free.”—Boston Sunday GlobeH “An accessible and vivid outline of the events that led to changes in civil rights in the U.S.”—Kirkus Reviews, StarredAmong Milton Meltzer’s many honors are five nominations for the National Book Award and the 2001 Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal for his substantial and lasting contribution to children’s literature. The author lives in New York City.