Jack London

The Iron Heel (1907) is a novel by American writer Jack London. A groundbreaking work of dystopian science fiction, The Iron Heel was, inspired by London's socialist views and belief in an eventual global upheaval. Although his predictions proved wrong for the United States of the early-twentieth century, London was, recognized by such figures as George Orwell for his foresight regarding the rise of fascism in Europe. The novel is, told from the perspective...

With dramatic and detailed first person narration, Jack London's Before Adam follows the dreams of a young boy who has a genetically imprinted memory and knowledge of an ancestor who lived in prehistoric times. Big Tooth is a pre-human ape and is the protagonist of the young boy's dreams. He lives in a tribe that rests in the middle of two extremes. In the surrounding area, there are tribes of differing levels of development. One is primitive and...

Jack London gained his first and most lasting fame as the author of tales of the Klondike gold rush. This, his first collection of stories, draws on his experience in the Yukon. The stories tell of gambles won and lost, of endurance and sacrifice, and often turn on the qualities of exceptional women and on the relations between the white adventurers and the native tribes. Stories included are: - The White Silence- The Son of the Wolf - The Men of...

The People of the Abyss (1903) is a work of nonfiction by American writer Jack London. Written after the author spent three months living in London's poverty-stricken East End, The People of the Abyss bears witness to the difficulties faced by hundreds and thousands of people every day in one of the wealthiest nations on earth. Inspired by Friedrich Engels's The Condition of the Working Class in England (1845) and Jacob Riis's How the Other Half Lives,...

Elam Harnish has more money than he would ever need. As he accumulates wealth as a successful entrepreneur in the Alaskan Gold Rush, Harnish must face the challenges of the Yukon Territory. After he makes a fortune, Harnish finds himself still unsatisfied. In efforts to find a new challenge and make more money, Harnish decides to move down to the mainland of America, settling in California. However, after a group of money kings threaten to take his...

In this classic collection of stories drawn from his own experiences, the author looks back on his days as a teenager aboard the fishing boats of San Francisco Bay. In the early 1900s, men of all stripes descended on these waters to plunder its rich oyster beds. To stop the run on the waters, a patrol was established. Jack London began his youthful adventures on the wrong side of the law, as an oyster pirate. But conscience and common sense got the...

Published in 1905, this is a riveting tale of a boxing match between twenty-year-old Jack Fleming and his thuggish rival John Ponta, as seen through the eyes of Jack's fiancé, Genevieve. Notable for its stark realism, this short novel single-handedly, as it were, elevated the subject of boxing to literary respectability.

A Daughter of the Snows is Jack London's first novel. Set in the Yukon, it tells the story of Frona Welse, "a Stanford graduate and physical Valkyrie" who takes to the trail after upsetting her wealthy father's community by her forthright manner and befriending the town's prostitute. She is also torn between love for two suitors: Gregory St. Vincent, a local man who turns out to be cowardly and treacherous, and Vance Corliss, a Yale-trained mining...

Born into poverty in San Francisco in 1876, Jack London is one of the most well-known and beloved of all American authors, as well as one of the first Americans to become world famous and wealthy from his literary career. London lived a colorful and adventurous life as a young man, working as a sailor and then living as a hobo, all before starting high school. First published in 1915 "The Star Rover" also published as "The Jacket" is the tale of Darrell...

Outside the ruins of San Francisco, a former UC Berkeley professor of literature recounts the chilling sequence of events, which led to his current lowly state - a gruesome pandemic which killed nearly every living soul on the planet, in a matter of days. Modern civilization tottered and fell, and a new race of barbarians - the western world's brutalized workers - assumed power everywhere. Over the space of a few decades, all learning has been lost....