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Captain Alex MacLean; Jack London's Sea Wolf Don MacGillivray. Vancouver, B.C., University of British Columbia Press, 2008. 359 p., illus. $29.95 paperback.
This is an impressively-researched book, with well-composed text, graphics that support and enhance the text, and an imposing (100 page) collection of notes, bibliography, and index. It takes a while to find your bearings in the book - its subject is not immediately obvious. The author insists that it is a biography of Alex MacLean, one of the most successful captains in west coast maritime history. The title implies that we'll discover how writers create memorable fictional characters from real-life models. The pages of the book, however, are filled with an historical account of the Pacific sealing industry. The book could have been more accurately titled: Pacific sealing, as exemplified by the life of Alex MacLean, Jack London's Sea Wolf.
Nevertheless, I heartily recommend this book to anyone interested in stories about the...