Jack London’s novels and rugged individualism embodied American hopes, frustrations, and romantic longings in the turbulent early years of the twentieth century, an era infused with the wonder and excitement of great technological and historic change. The author’s restless spirit, taste for excitement, and probing mind led him on a series of hard-edged adventures from the Yukon to the South Seas. Out of these sometimes harrowing experiences - and his fascination with the theories of such thinkers as Darwin, Spencer, and Marx - came the inspiration for adventure novels that made him one of America’s most popular writers. The Call of the Wild, widely considered London’s greatest novel, is a gripping tale of a heroic dog thrust into the brutal life of the Alaska Gold Rush and forced to choose between civilization and nature. London’s urgent and vivid style, intensified by his firsthand experiences of Klondike life, makes this tale as fresh and immediate today as it was upon its 1903 publication. This splendid hardcover edition features extensive illustrations by wildlife specialist Paul Bransom; in addition to 16 full-color plates, numerous color and black-and-white images include headpieces, spot pieces, and other rich embellishments. AUTHOR: Novelist, journalist, and social activist Jack London (1876 1916) rose from abject poverty to international fame. The bestselling, highest-paid, and most popular author of his era, London created a substantial body of work in his short life, drawing upon his experiences as a cannery worker, sailor, railroad hobo, and prospector. Illustrator Paul Bransom (1885 1979) began his career as a technical draftsman for the U.S. Patent Office at the age of 13. He worked for the New York Evening Journal as a comic strip artist, and his earliest commissions included covers for The Saturday Evening Post and editions of Kipling’s Just So Stories and Grahame’s The Wind in the Willows.
