The Call of the Wild is an adventure novel by Jack London. It was published in 1903 and set in Yukon, Canada during the 1890s Klondike Gold Rush, when strong sled dogs were in high demand. The central character of the novel is a dog named Buck. The story opens at a ranch in Santa Clara Valley, California, when Buck is stolen from his home and sold into service as a sled dog in Alaska. He becomes progressively feral in the harsh environment, where he is forced to fight to survive and dominate other dogs. By the end, he sheds the veneer of civilization, and relies on primordial instinct and learned experience to emerge as a leader in the wild. Artist Bio Author: Jack London (1876-1916) was an American novelist, journalist, and social activist, one of the first fiction writers obtaining celebrity and a fortune. His most famous novel is The Call of the Wild.