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The Iron Heel (1908) Generally considered to be "the earliest of the modern Dystopian," The Iron Heel chronicles the rise of an oligarchic tyranny in the United States. It is arguably the novel in which Jack London's socialist views are most explicitly on display. A forerunner of soft science fiction novels and stories of the 1960s and 1970s, the book stresses future changes in society and politics while paying much less attention to technological changes.

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The Call of the Wild (1903) The plot concerns a previously domesticated and even somewhat pampered dog named Buck, whose primordial instincts return after a series of events finds him serving as a sled dog in the treacherous, frigid Yukon during the days of the 19th-century Klondike Gold Rushes in which sled dogs were bought at generous prices.

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White Fang (1906) The novel was first serialized in The Outing Magazine in May to October 1906. It is the story of a wild wolfdog's journey toward becoming civilized in Yukon Territory, Canada, during the Klondike Gold Rush at the end of the 19th century. White Fang is a companion novel (and a thematic mirror) to London's best-known work, The Call of the Wild.

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The Sea Wolf (1904) This 1904 psychological adventure novel is about a literary critic and other survivors of an ocean collision who come under the dominance of Wolf Larsen, the powerful and amoral sea captain who rescues them. Its first printing of forty thousand copies were immediately sold out before publication on the strength of London's previous The Call of the Wild.

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Martin Eden (1909) This book is a favorite among writers, who relate to Martin Eden's speculation that when he mailed off a manuscript, 'there was no human editor at the other end, but a mere cunning arrangement of cogs that changed the manuscript from one envelope to another and stuck on the stamps,' returning it automatically with a rejection slip.

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The Cruise of the Snark (1911) This is non-fiction, illustrated book by Jack London chronicling his sailing adventure in 1907 across the south Pacific in his ketch "The Snark". Accompanying London on this voyage was his wife Charmian and a small crew. London taught himself celestial navigation and the basics of sailing and of boats during the course of this adventure and describes these details to the reader.

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To Build a Fire (1908) The famous version of this short-story was published in 1908. Jack London published an earlier and radically different version in 1902 in which the protagonist survives his ordeal, and a comparison of the two provides a dramatic illustration of the growth of his literary ability. It is widely considered as a prime example of the naturalist movement and of a Man vs. Nature conflict.