This beloved classic tells the story of Buck, a kind-hearted dog suddenly uprooted from his California home and transplanted to the exotic wilds of Alaska during the 1890s Yukon Gold Rush.

Enslaved and forced to pull a heavy sled through miles and miles of frozen ice with little or nothing to eat and frequent beatings, Buck regresses into a primitive form of himself, which allows him to survive the harsh conditions and dangerous environment. He quickly learns the rules of the wild and fights for, and wins, his place as the leader of the team.

When new incompetent drivers take over the sled, a kind man named John Thornton rescues Buck from this life of cruelty and certain death Buck sets off on a journey of a lifetime with this new master whose life he saves several times. Although often racked with the primal urge to run off and join the wolf packs—his brothers from the wild—he stays with Thornton until he has no option but to join them as their new leader.

This book, one of the great dog stories of all time, can also be read as a parable of a man reduced to his own resources in a hostile environment, or as an escape from civilization and its discontents.