The book was published in four volumes, beginning with Boyhood in 1906, followed by Apprenticeship in 1907 and The Great Struggle in 1909 and concluding with Daybreak in 1910.

At 18, he moves from Bornholm to Copenhagen, and becomes a leader in the labour movement in Denmark, motivated by poor working conditions.

[1] While written as a biography of a fictional character, Pelle the Conqueror reports on widespread economic and historic social matters.

[6] In 2017, HBO Nordic and SAM Productions announced they were producing an eight-hour miniseries The Conqueror, written by Rasmus Heisterberg and based on Nexø's Apprenticeship, The Great Struggle and Daybreak.

[8] As per Danish copyright law, the book entered the public domain on 1 January 2025, 70 full calendar years after Nexø’s death on 1 June 1954.