Book Description

Jack London's most inspired political texts, collected in one volume. Even a century after his death, Jack London remains one of America's most iconic authors. Born poor, and rising to become America's first millionaire writer, London was the living embodiment of the American Dream. His very life illustrated for many the limitless possibilities available to every man, woman and child living in America's capitalist society. What is often overlooked in these reminiscences, though, is the disdain London harbored for capitalism throughout his adult life. Before he wrote the stories that made him famous, before his rugged adventures on the sea, Jack London was an avowed socialist. Jack London: The Socialist Writings represents the most comprehensive collection of London's political texts available. This volume contains the full texts of London's most significant socialist works. In The People of the Abyss, London documents the deplorable conditions faced by England's poverty-stricken population. War of the Classes highlights the repeated failings of America's unchecked capitalism at the turn of the twentieth century. In Revolution and Other Essays, London is at his political best: thought provoking, witty, and inspiring as he argues for a transition from capitalism to a socialist economy. Also included are eight of London's most astute short essays, chronicling three decades of a maturing political philosophy: "What Socialism Is," "Laws Direct from Voters," "The Principles of the Republican Party," "The Economics of the Klondike," "The Apostate," "War," "Resignation from the Glen Ellen Socialist Party," and "Foreword to Prison Memoirs of an Anarchist." Here we see the development of London's socialist thought from his days as Oakland's orating "boy socialist" until weeks before his death. This book is required reading for anyone interested in the life and work of Jack London.