The prologue explains when the owner moved into High Glen house he found an iron collar with an inscription from 1767. He uses it as a paperweight on his desk but often looks at it, wondering what story is behind it. This is the story of a Place Called Freedom by Ken Follet, an exciting story about the quest for freedom and happiness.

It begins in the coal mines of Scotland in the eighteenth century. Life is harsh for Mack McAsh, his sister Esther, and the other coal miners in the town of Heugh. They were pledged to the mine owner as part of their Christening ceremony and were the property of Sir George Jamisson for life. Then Mack learns from London lawyer Caspar Gordonson that this isn't true. Their parents can't make decisions for them once they reach the age of twenty-one. If they work a day past their twenty-second birthday, they became the property of the owner. This begins Mack's journey for freedom that takes him to the colonies and the territories before it is over.

Mack is aided in his escape by Lizzie Hallim, a neighbor of the Jamissons. Both Jamisson sons, Robert and Jay, are her suitors. Under British and Scottish law and tradition, only the eldest son can inherit. Jay was born to the second wife of Sir George, Lady Alicia, who has always watched her son slighted in favor of Robert. This causes a great deal of tension in the family. Eventually, Lizzie chooses Jay over Robert and marries him.

All of the main characters end up in London. Jay is finishing his duty with his London regiment while he and Lizzie are waiting to move to the Jamisson Mockjock Hall tobacco plantation in Virginia. Mack is working at a coal heaver and bristling at the corrupt and unfair system of the undertakers. Mack and lower Caspar Gordonson devise a new more efficient system that is fairer to the workers. This leads to a shippers boycott, led by Jamisson and a strike led by Mack. The government wants Mack set up and hanged and almost succeeds but Mack is sentenced to transport to the colonies.

When the ship arrives in Virginia, he is purchased to work seven years on the Jamisson tobacco plantation. Again, freedom has eluded him and he is the property of a Jamisson. But the unhappily married Lizzie is there and they fall in love and eventually run away together to find freedom and happiness.