The Iron Heel

by Jack London

Publisher:

Grosset & Dunlap

, 1908

Overview

In The Iron Heel, Jack London presented the world with what is argued by many to be the first modern dystopian novel. Set 700 years in the future in a tyrannical American oligarchy, The Iron Heel emphasizes cultural and societal changes while detailing very little technological development. This novel is a unique and interesting development in London’s writings, as he uses a protagonist who moves the plot forward in the first person, a relatively rare narrative strategy at the time, as well as several other experimental narrative and structural choices. The Iron Heel is also arguably the novel that most clearly demonstrates London’s socialist views. London’s work had a strong influence on future dystopian fiction, such as George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four.

Product Details

• Title: The Iron Heel
• Author: Jack London
• Publisher: Grosset & Dunlap
• Print Publication Date: 1908
• Logos Release Date: 2015
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
• Subjects: Socialism › Fiction; Oligarchy › Fiction; Revolutionaries › Fiction
• Resource ID: LLS:WRKSLONDON04
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2022-02-12T06:45:47Z

About Jack London

Born in San Francisco, Jack London (1876–1916) shoveled coal, pirated oysters, sailed with a sealing schooner, and worked in a cannery as a youth. In 1897, London traveled to the Yukon to join the Klondike gold rush, an experience that inspired many of his later works. Best known for The Call of the Wild (1903), he wrote and published more than fifty volumes of essays, novels, and short stories, and was one of the most popular authors of his era.