Jack London - The Iron Heel

The Iron Heel is a science-fiction novel by American writer Jack London, first published in 1908. It is one of the earliest representatives of the soft science fiction sub-genre where social sciences take the main role, as opposed to natural sciences and technology in hard sci-fi.

The novel describes the anti-utopian (dystopian) future in which an an oligarchic regime nicknamed "The Iron Heel" takes over the United States, including class warfare from a socialist perspective, with an outlook sympathetic to the working class and revolutionaries who fight for its rights. Classic descriptions of strikes, strikebreaking, riots and street massacres build upon experiences of American workers in the late 19th century (the 1886 Haymarket massacre is the origin of May Day - International Workers' Day). London foretold the rise of fascism, which the U.S.A. avoided by enacting progressive anti-trust laws soon after the publication of the book, calming the tensions among the proletariat and aiding the development of sizable middle class.

This book influenced George Orwell to write Nineteen Eighty-Four (written 1948, published 1949) and is a must read for sci-fi fans and social activists of all political persuasions.

Jack London wrote another novel set in the same fictional "universe" titled The Scarlet Plague (1912). ( Coming soon!)




Freeware! The copyright on all the works by Jack London (1875-1916) expired 70 years after his death. Therefore this book has been in Public Domain since 1986. The source of the PDF is the Internet Archive.