Jack London

From the same series that produced the classic and beloved novel, Call of the Wild, Jack London’s Jerry of the Islands accompanies the other Jack London stories that portray dog protagonists. Born on the Santa Isabelle Island, Jerry, an Irish terrier, belongs to a slave owner named Mr. Haggin. On the plantation, Jerry is responsible for chasing the slaves, as ordered by Mr. Haggin. He is content on the plantation, but when Captain Van Horn comes into town, Mr. Haggin gives Jerry to him to accompany him on his ship. Especially fond of Captain Van Horn, Jerry is happy to join the sailing endeavor. However, when the ship is attacked, tragedy strikes, and Jerry is thrown into the sea. After being saved by a native boy and brought to a village, Jerry recovers from the attack and begins a new life there. When the village chief takes a special interest in him, Jerry is given a special status, protecting him from harm. But, when Agno, a local sorcerer, reveals his gruesome plans for Jerry, his new home is threatened once again. Facing high stakes of sacrifice and losing a home, Jerry must fight for his safety to survive on the Solomon Islands. With a setting inspired by Jack London’s own travels, Jerry of the Islandsemploys rich description that allows readers to feel as if they are a part of the story. With the unique dog protagonist, Jerry of the Islands is charming and offbeat, providing a fresh and interesting perspective on the colonial south Pacific. Through the observations and thoughts of a dog with many owners, London’s novel convincingly portrays the projected racism that is able to be trained into pets. Under a new and modern cultural lens, readers are able to recognize these inadvertent themes and compare them to contemporary society. Now presented with a stunning new cover and reprinted in an easy-to-read font, this edition of Jerry of the Islands by Jack London is both modern and accessible, perfect for readers in search of an adventure with a unique perspective.

During the catastrophic economic depression of the 1890s, young Jack London found himself in the same situation as many others—homeless and unemployed. After a failed American investment and crop failure, the nation found itself in a panic. As London recounts these times, he tells stories of hopping on freight trains, consequently being forcefully removed. While living as a hobo, London often had to beg for food and money, and frequently found himself in trouble with the law. Since the economic depression had affected so many, there were often people just wandering around with no home or job to go to. Those that were fortunate enough not to be brought to such measures found this undesirable, which led to a strict uphold of vagrancy laws, punishing and harassing the homeless. Though he often would escape imprisonment by making up elaborate stories and excuses to tell the police, he wasn’t always so lucky. After being arrested for vagrancy, London describes his horrible, thirty-day stay at Erie County Penitentiary. Following this incident, London recalls his time in Coxey’s Army, a protest group composed of unemployed workers. Surviving these times and going on to become a successful author, Jack London looks back on the trying time of his youth with a new, and often humorous perspective. With entertaining and enlightening prose, Jack London discloses the personal details of a difficult time in his life, as well as a strained time in American history. Acting as a stimulus for political upheaval, the economic depression of 1893 was a pivotal time in America. Jack London’s The Road provides an intimate glimpse into these times, as well as entertaining audiences with a light-hearted tone. The Road has inspired film adaptations and remains to be a relatable and intriguing perspective into a humbling human experience. This edition of Jack London’s The Road is now presented with a stunning new cover design and is reprinted in a modern, stylish font. With this accommodations, contemporary readers are welcomed to the captivating tales of Jack London’s life on the road, following his humble and humiliating experiences begging for food and evading arrest.

The novel is told via the framing device of a manuscript found centuries after the action takes place and footnotes by a scholar, Anthony Meredith, circa 2600 AD or 419 B. O. M. (the Brotherhood of Man). Jack London writes at two levels, sporadically having Meredith correcting the errors of Avis Everhard through his own future prism, while at the same time, exposing the often incomplete understanding of this distant future perspective. Meredith's introduction also reveals that the protagonist's efforts will fail, giving the work an air of foreordained tragedy.

Before Adam is a novel by Jack London, serialized in 1906 and 1907 in Everybody's Magazine. It is the story of a man who dreams he lives the life of an early hominid. The story offers an early view of human evolution. The majority of the story is told through the eyes of the man's hominid alter ego, one of the Cave People. In addition to the Cave People, there are the more advanced Fire People, and the more animal-like Tree People. Other characters include the hominid's father, a love interest, and Red-Eye, a fierce ""atavism"" that perpetually terrorizes the Cave People. A sabre-cat also plays a role in the story. Later scholars have noted strong eugenic themes in Before Adam.

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 of a scholar named Anthony Meredith who lives in the post-revolutionary Brotherhood of Man in the year 2600 AD. Having discovered the “Everhard Manuscript,” a record of the rise of the Oligarchy in twentieth century America that provides the bulk of the narrative, Meredith writes the introduction and extensive footnotes throughout. The Manuscript is the story of Avis Everhard, a young woman who becomes radicalized by the rise of authoritarianism in the United States and eventually leads a failed revolution against the Oligarchy. While the frame narrative provides a sense of hope for the future of humanity, the Manuscript describes a society crushed by the consolidation of economic and political power by a wealthy few, who control all aspects of everyday life and rule with the help of a ruthless mercenary army. As she rises through the ranks of the resistance movement, Everhard comes to understand that the sacrifices required of a hero must be made for a future she holds little hope of seeing. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Jack London’s The Iron Heel is a classic of American literature reimagined for modern readers.

“[Jack London was] a great gobbler-up of the world, physically and intellectually, the kind of writer who went to a place and wrote his dreams into it, the kind of writer who found an Idea and spun his psyche around it.”—E. L. DoctorowMartin Eden (1909) is a novel by American writer Jack London. The book follows the tradition of the Künstlerroman, a narrative that traces the life and development of an artist, to tell the story of a young man not unlike London himself. Part fiction, part autobiography, Martin Eden examines the consequences of dreams and achievements, successes and failures, for a young artist struggling with fame. The novel is heavily influenced by London’s socialist values, and dissects the interwoven nature of class and the arts while critiquing the individualist mentality promoted by such figures as Nietzsche. The young Martin Eden lives in Oakland where he struggles to rise above the circumstances of his birth. Despite his impoverished background, he has hopes of becoming a successful writer, and has spent years educating himself toward that goal. A dreamer, Eden is also driven to marry Ruth Morse, a woman he loves despite their vastly different lives—he is a sailor, she comes from a bourgeois family. It soon becomes clear that his intentions to write and to marry are entirely intertwined. When he finds success, however, breaking through with publishers and with the elite literati of Oakland, he finds that Ruth’s love is far from guaranteed, and that dreams rarely come to fruition. Martin Eden is a story of the American ideal, of class and identity, and of one man determined to make it, whatever the cost. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Jack London’s Martin Eden is a classic of American literature reimagined for modern readers.

Söderhavet som litterärt landskap av Redaktör Ulf Johansson Dahre:Tänk att vara född som en så kallad vilde på en av Söderhavsöarna, att kunna njuta av den rena och obefläckade mänskliga existensen, J. W. GOETHE, 1828Söderhavet, Romantiskt, mytiskt, äventyrligt. Att tala och skriva om Söderhavet framkallar inte sällan längtansfulla suckar om blått hav, vajande palmer och ett lättjefullt liv. Det är inget fenomen som har med den moderna turistindustrin att göra. Föreställningen om Söderhavet som ett jordiskt paradis har en lång historia. I mitten av 1800-talet gav denna dröm upphov till det som idag är en egen litterär genre som kan kallas för Söderhavslitteratur. Det är en litteratur som kännetecknas av kraftfull romantik och exoticism, men emellanåt också av nykter realism. Den romantiska ådran har utan tvekan blivit en del av det västerländska kulturarvet även om de flesta västerlänningar inte varit i Söderhavet. För vem har inte längtat efter den där härliga vykortstranden eller läst fantastiska historier om livet och människorna på det som ibland kallats de lata latituderna? Samtidigt har många fascinerats eller förfärats över skildringarna över det primitiva livet eller över kannibalerna hunger.

Jack London was an American novelist, journalist, and social activist. A pioneer in the world of commercial magazine fiction, he was one of the first writers to become a worldwide celebrity and earn a large fortune from writing. He was also an innovator in the genre that would later become known as science fiction. This selection specially chosen by the literary critic August Nemo, contains the following stories: The Law of Life, To Build a Fire, That Spot, All Gold Canyon, An Odyssey of the North, A Piece of Steak and Lost Face.

During the catastrophic economic depression of the 1890s, young Jack London found himself in the same situation as many others—homeless and unemployed. After a failed American investment and crop failure, the nation found itself in a panic. As London recounts these times, he tells stories of hopping on freight trains, consequently being forcefully removed. While living as a hobo, London often had to beg for food and money, and frequently found himself in trouble with the law. Since the economic depression had affected so many, there were often people just wandering around with no home or job to go to. Those that were fortunate enough not to be brought to such measures found this undesirable, which led to a strict uphold of vagrancy laws, punishing and harassing the homeless. Though he often would escape imprisonment by making up elaborate stories and excuses to tell the police, he wasn’t always so lucky. After being arrested for vagrancy, London describes his horrible, thirty-day stay at Erie County Penitentiary. Following this incident, London recalls his time in Coxey’s Army, a protest group composed of unemployed workers. Surviving these times and going on to become a successful author, Jack London looks back on the trying time of his youth with a new, and often humorous perspective. With entertaining and enlightening prose, Jack London discloses the personal details of a difficult time in his life, as well as a strained time in American history. Acting as a stimulus for political upheaval, the economic depression of 1893 was a pivotal time in America. Jack London’s The Road provides an intimate glimpse into these times, as well as entertaining audiences with a light-hearted tone. The Road has inspired film adaptations and remains to be a relatable and intriguing perspective into a humbling human experience. This edition of Jack London’s The Road is now presented with a stunning new cover design and is reprinted in a modern, stylish font. With this accommodations, contemporary readers are welcomed to the captivating tales of Jack London’s life on the road, following his humble and humiliating experiences begging for food and evading arrest.

The Cruise of the Snark (1911) is a work of travel literature by American writer Jack London. In 1906, after achieving early success as an author of novels and short stories, London began dreaming of the adventures of his youth. Inspired, he spent a fortune to build a 45-foot yacht complete with two sails and a 70-horsepower engine, powerful enough to carry him across the Pacific. Envisioning a seven-year journey, London and his wife Charmian set sail on the Snark with a small crew in 1907. Over the next two years, they would visit Hawaii—where London learned to surf and visited a leper colony—and the Marquesas Islands—made famous by Herman Melville’s first novel, Typee. Other stops included Tahiti, Bora Bora, Fiji, Samoa, and the Solomon Islands. During the voyage, London learned the art of sailing and celestial navigation, ensuring that his travelogue—which he filled with photographs from the journey—would be authentic and instructive. In 1909, the Snark was forced to end its voyage in Guadalcanal so that London, suffering from infection, could be taken to a hospital in Sydney. To help cover costs, the Snark was sold in Australia in 1909, and the Londons returned to America via Ecuador later that year. In addition to The Cruise of the Snark, London would publish numerous essays and articles about the trip, and his wife Charmian also wrote three books of her own on the subject. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Jack London’s The Cruise of the Snark is a classic of American literature reimagined for modern readers.

The Jacket (1915) is a novel by American writer Jack London. A groundbreaking work of science fiction that blends elements of mysticism, The Jacket critiques the harsh reality of the American criminal justice system. The novel was inspired by the experiences of Ed Morrell, a man who spent time at San Quentin State Prison for robbing trains. Horrified by his description of “the jacket,” a constricting device used to punish inmates, London wrote the novel to explore the psychological effects of torture. Darrell Standing was a Professor of Agronomics at the University of California, Berkeley when, in a fit of uncontrollable rage, he murdered a fellow professor in cold blood. Sentenced to life imprisonment at San Quentin, Standing is sent to solitary confinement after refusing to provide a false confession for a suspected escape plot. In the silence and darkness of solitary—between grueling sessions of torture by way of a constricting jacket—Standing learns to communicate through tapping with the man in the next cell over, who gives him hope and ignites his desire to free himself. Gifted with a rich imagination since his youth, Standing miraculously discovers the power of star roving, the ability to transport oneself throughout time and space using only one’s mind. As his torturers subject him to harsher and more prolonged methods of punishment, he embarks on adventures through past lives to free himself from the misery of the present. The Jacket is an inventive work of science fiction that serves as a powerful critique of torture and sheds light on the depravities of the American criminal justice system. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Jack London’s The Jacket is a classic of American literature reimagined for modern readers.

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, London hoped to expose the indignities faced by those left behind by industrialization. In 1902, Jack London traveled to England to live in the slums of London’s East End. Hoping to learn about the lives and experiences of the city’s working class, he spent three months staying in workhouses, sleeping on the streets, and lodging with a poor family in the area. Drawing on his own experience as a working-class American, and informed by his dedicated understanding of socialism, London recorded what he saw of the lives of London’s poor, the hundreds of thousands of humans held back from the nation’s progress toward modernization. The People of the Abyss was a popular and critical success upon publication and would inspire the young George Orwell to conduct his own research on poverty and urban life, which he recorded in his groundbreaking work Down and Out in Paris and London. Although he is known more for his contributions to fiction, London was a talented journalist whose experiences as a world traveler and worker allowed him to capture the deprivations of impoverished life while preserving a sense of humanity and advocating for much needed change. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Jack London’s The People of the Abyss is a classic of American literature reimagined for modern readers.

Love of Life and Other Stories (1906) is a collection of short stories by American writer Jack London. Containing eight stories by the author, a master of literary Naturalism and an experienced outdoorsman and adventurer, Love of Life and Other Stories explores the experience of humanity on the edge of civilization. Set mostly in Canada and Alaska, these stories follow characters for whom survival is a constant struggle, for whom death is as familiar as a friend. “Love of Life” follows a gold prospector who is abandoned by his companion when he sprains his ankle crossing a creek. Shocked at first, he quickly realizes that in order to survive, he must keep moving. As he makes his was through the Canadian wilderness eating berries and weeds, his only desire is to have just one more bullet with which to hunt for wild game. As day turns to night, and as the next day fades to another, he faces a hunger beyond description, an emptiness food cannot fill. In “A Day’s Lodging,” a man retires for the night at a cabin he discovers in the wintry Yukon woods. As he settles in and prepares to feed his team of sled dogs, two strangely familiar adventurers arrive and ask to share the cabin for the night. Love of Life and Other Stories is a masterful collection of short fiction by Jack London, an icon of adventure writing. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Jack London’s Love of Life and Other Stories is a classic of American literature reimagined for modern readers.

The Strength of the Strong (1914) is a collection of short stories by American writer Jack London. Written and published when London was at the height of his success as an author, the stories that make up The Strength of the Strong engage with themes inspired by his lifelong advocacy of socialism. In the collection, London explores—through science fiction, naturalism, and historical narratives—the consequences of capitalism on human life, the nuances of geopolitical power, and the importance of the labor movement. In “The Strength of the Strong,” a parable, a prehistoric elder named Long-Beard speaks to a gathering of his fellow hunters. As they sit around a fire eating the remains of a wild bear carcass, Long-Beard tells the story of their people. He recalls how their society developed to promote individualism and hierarchy, and how conflict with other tribes and a lack of shared resources led to the breakdown of the community. “South of the Slot” is the story of Freddie Drummond, a sociology professor at Berkeley who leads a secret double life as a powerful union organizer named Big Bill Totts. As Totts’s influence in the labor movement grows, it becomes more and more difficult for Drummond to separate his identities and to keep his union work hidden from his fiancé, the wealthy aristocrat Catherine van Vorst. In “The Unparalleled Invasion,” a work of speculative fiction, London illustrates a future where China—which has risen to control all of Asia—is attacked with biological weapons by a combined force of Western powers. The Strength of the Strong is a collection of stories addressing issues of race, class, power, and violence from a master of science fiction and literary naturalism. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Jack London’s The Strength of the Strong is a classic of American literature reimagined for modern readers.

Lost Face (1910) is a collection of seven short stories by American writer Jack London. Drawing on his experiences as a gold prospector in the Yukon, London explores the life of humanity at the edge of civilization. In these stories of life and death, nature reigns supreme over society, and even the strong are not guaranteed to survive. “Lost Face” is the story of a Polish trapper and fur thief named Subienkow. Captured by Native Americans, he watches in horror as a strong, courageous Cossack is slowly killed through hours of brutal torture. Recalling the hardships he faced in Poland, Russia, and Siberia, Subienkow delves deep into his reservoir of experience to devise a plan he hopes will allow him to escape such a terrible fate. Using an interpreter, he convinces Makamuk, the chief, that he possesses a powerful medicine, and offers it in exchange for his life. In “To Build a Fire”—a frequently anthologized work of adventure fiction and one of London’s most beloved works—an explorer decides to trek into the forest of the Yukon while a winter storm looms on the horizon. Ignoring all signs of danger, as well as the warnings of an experienced elder, he finds himself lost in the woods with nothing but a dog and a fire. With no time to question his motives—he had set out to visit a friend’s cabin—he is forced to face nature head on, and on its own terms. Lost Face, published at the height of London’s career, compiles seven stories from the master of adventure and naturalist fiction. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Jack London’s Lost Face is a classic of American literature reimagined for modern readers.

The Valley of the Moon (1913) is a novel by American writer Jack London. Inspired by his experiences as a working-class man and dedicated socialist, London incorporates aspects of his own biography—his interest in sailing, his life on a ranch in Sonoma County—to tell a story of hardship, hope, and perseverance. Having grown disillusioned with the labor movement, London uses the novel to advocate for sustainable agriculture and other alternatives to industry, urban life, and modernization. A former professional boxer, Billy works as a Teamster in Oakland, where strikes and demonstrations for the labor movement often turn violent. Soon after his marriage to Saxon, a young laundry worker, Billy is arrested for assaulting a strikebreaker, the stress of which contributes to his wife’s miscarriage. When he is released from jail, Saxon convinces him to reject the labor movement, and the two embark on a journey north to look for work and a new life away from the city. On the way, they meet immigrant farmers who instruct them in the ways of sustainable farming, briefly join an artists’ colony, and befriend a young journalist and his wife. After winning a substantial amount of money in a boxing match, Billy purchases a team of horses and envisions a life of prosperity and safety with which to start a family. The Valley of the Moon, though relatively unsuccessful at the time of its publication, is a meditative work that illuminates the disparities of the American Dream and provides alternatives without succumbing to despair. In its pages, we see the prototype for such authors as John Steinbeck and Jack Kerouac, visionaries and restless souls who refused to accept that life was impossible to change. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Jack London’s The Valley of the Moon is a classic of American literature reimagined for modern readers.

The book, Before Adam, has been considered important throughout the human history, and so that this work is never forgotten we have made efforts in its preservation by republishing this book in a modern format for present and future generations. This whole book has been reformatted, retyped and designed. These books are not made of scanned copies of their original work and hence the text is clear and readable.