Jack London

John Griffith Chaney — aka Jack London, whose life symbolized the power of will, was the most successful writer in America in the early 20th Century. His vigorous stories of men and animals against the environment, and survival against hardships were drawn mainly from his own experience. An illegitimate child, London passed his childhood in poverty in the Oakland slums. At the age of 17, he ventured to sea on a sealing ship. The turning point of his life was a thirty-day imprisonment that was so degrading it made him decide to turn to education and pursue a career in writing. His years in the Klondike searching for gold left their mark in his best short stories; among them, The Call of the Wild, and White Fang. His best novel, The Sea-Wolf, was based on his experiences at sea. His work embraced the concepts of unconfined individualism and Darwinism in its exploration of the laws of nature. He retired to his ranch near Sonoma, where he died at age 40 of various diseases and drug treatments.

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Featured Books, with extracts by Jack London

The Call of The Wild
Jack London
The classic story of a remarkable dog. Buck, lives a comfortable life as top dog at the home of the Judge. Son of a handsome St Bernard, Buck too is handsome, intelligent and totally trusted by the household. But everything...
Featured in: 9+ readers | Audio Books | Children's Classics | Ebooks
Format: Hardback - Released: 05/03/2009
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White Fang (with an introduction by Richard Adams)
Jack London
A classic animal story set in the harsh and desolate wastelands of the north where the only rule is kill for survival or be killed and eaten yourself. Here White Fang, half-dog, half-wolf is born – the only cub of...
Featured in: 9+ readers | Children's Classics
Format: Paperback - Released: 07/08/2008
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The Call Of The Wild (with an Introduction by Melvin Burgess)
Jack London
This is a classic of all classics.  Melvin Burgess has written an Introduction that will make the reader realise if they haven’t already that we, the human race, are on the cusp of changing nature and therefore the planet...
Featured in: 9+ readers | Children's Classics
Format: Paperback - Released: 06/03/2008
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