Alex MacLean was the inspiration for the title character, Wolf Larsen, in Jack London's bestselling novel, The Sea-Wolf. Originally from Cape Breton, MacLean sailed to the Pacific side of North America when he was just twenty-one and worked there for thirty-five years as a sailor and sealer. His achievements and escapades while in the Victoria fleet in the 1880s laid the foundation of his status as a folk hero. Although MacLean is a colourful character both in his own right and as mythologized by London, his biography reveals more than the construction of a legend. Don MacGillivray opens a window onto the complex world of pelagic sealing in the North Pacific. MacLean's story will appeal to maritime historians, historians of the Pacific Northwest, and readers interested in the history of sealing, international relations, and environmental politics.
