This book was published 1974 by Farrar, Straus & Giroux Inc .

Charles Keeping was the two-time winner of the Kate Greenaway Medal. Rosemary Sutcliff has written many historical novels for children. The Lantern Bearers won the Carnegie Medal. Rosemary Sutcliff received an OBE in 1975 and in 1993, the year after her death, was awarded the CBE.