Human Drift and Other Stories

1. The Human Drift - Details over-population and the human need for space, but notes how when food production became easier and more reliable population grew as a result - erasing space. Predominantly based on Thomas Malthus' principal that while population grows with food availability there exists a carrying capacity that will cause a natural check on man - much like war, natural disaster and pestilence already do in over-populated countries. The truest to London political views.

2. Small Boat Sailing - Espouses what a "real" sailor is and what he must endure in small crafts that are relentlessly beaten by the wind and sea. It takes a real strategician to command small vessels. A deep facet of London's growing-up.

3. Four Horses and A Sailor - London's rather tedious account of himself and four troublesome horses as he learns to drive them across California. Too many obscure details for a New Englander.

4. Nothing That Ever Came To Anything - A botched deal between London and a fellow that didn't deliver the goods but wanted a `gift' in return. London did the right thing.

5. That Dead Men Rise Up Never - An interesting ghost story in which the encounter takes place after one intensely disliked crewman is buried at sea after his death. The most macabre of the stories.

6. A Classic of The Sea - An ode to Richard Henry Dana, an expert of Maritime Law and an adventurer. Inspired writing, but not my reading preference.

7. A Wicked Woman - A play about the most naïve 19 year old woman on the face of the earth. I kid you not.

8. The Birth Mark - Another play. Akin to something right out of `I Love Lucy'. It may in fact have provided the inspiration for many plot lines.