White Fang

White Fang by Jack London (1906)

The companion novel to The Call of the Wild, told in reverse: a wild wolf-dog hybrid is gradually domesticated. Where Buck journeys from civilization to wilderness, White Fang journeys from wilderness to civilization. London's meditation on nature versus nurture.

Historical Significance:
London intended White Fang as "a companion book to The Call of the Wild — the reverse process, the evolution and domestication of an animal." Serialized in the magazine Outing from May to October 1906, it explored whether love and kindness could overcome a lifetime of brutality — a question London, who had survived a desperate childhood of poverty and abuse, knew intimately. The novel has been adapted into multiple films and remains one of the most popular animal stories ever written.

This public domain classic was originally published in 1906. Free to read and share.