The Call of the Wild is a novel by Jack London, first published in 1903. This thrilling adventure story is set in the Klondike Gold Rush of Alaska and the Yukon Territory, in the late 1890s. Dog sledding was the mode of transportation and strong sled dogs were in high demand. The novel's main character, Buck, is half St. Bernard and half Scotch Shepherd dog. Raised as a domesticated dog on a ranch in southern California, Buck is stolen from his home and sold into the brutal existence of an Alaskan sled dog. Forced to survive in a foreign and uncaring environment, with tooth and claw being the only law. He must adjust and master his new life in the wild, by reverting to ancestral instincts.