Jack London

Jack London was an American writer, journalist and social activist, born in San Francisco on 12 January 1876 and dead at forty, on 22 November 1916. He grew up in poor, working-class circumstances around the San Francisco Bay and left school early to work in canneries and on the water. He later sailed, tramped across the country and joined the Klondike gold rush, and these experiences fed much of his writing. He also became a committed socialist and wrote about poverty and inequality.

London became one of the first American authors to earn a large fortune from his pen. He is best remembered for adventure stories of the far North, especially tales of dogs and wolves, but he also wrote sea stories, science fiction, political novels, autobiographical fiction and reportage. His plain, driving prose and his interest in survival, struggle and social class still draw readers today.