Jack London (1876 - 1916) was an American novelist, journalist and social activist. Pioneering the genre of magazine fiction and prototyping science fiction, he became one of the first writers, who gained worldwide fame and a large fortune. "The Sea-Wolf" is a psychological adventure novel that tells the story of Humphrey van Weyden, a literary critic and a survivor of an ocean collision. After the rescue, he falls under the influence of a powerful and amoral sea captain Wolf Larsen. So a soft, domesticated man is forced to become tough and self-reliant through exposure to cruelty and brutality.