PREFACE

This fascinating personal memoir is the result of the author's long-standing devotion to "America's Greatest World Author" — a devotion that spans nearly a half-century of research and publication. Vil Bykov is unquestionably the leading London scholar in Russia and one of the leading London scholars in the world. Since his first visit to the United States in the mid-1950s, he has published more than a score of books and articles on Jack London, as well as having presented scholarly papers not only in Russia but also at several international symposiums.

Dr. Vil Bykov's book, In the Steps of Jack London, was originally published in Russia in 1962. Revised and expanded editions of it appeared in 1973, 1983, 1996 and in 1998 at which time 232,000 copies of it had been sold. It was listed as an "intellectual bestseller" in 1997.

The editors of Dr. Bykov's manuscript have been sensitive to the problems of multiple translation; however, we believe that, overall, we have managed to convey the essential spirit of both authors—Jack London and Vil Bykov—in this remarkable book. In this process we have checked original sources to verify quoted passages whenever possible and will revise any inaccuracies readers may bring to our attention. We deeply appreciate the help in translation we have received from Charles Hoffmeister and Julia Istomina (an Honors Graduate in English from Centenary College of Louisiana), as well as Nathaniel Thomas's invaluable service in collating our editorial revisions and preparing this manuscript for publication on the web. We also acknowledge with sincere thanks the secretarial assistance of Becky Palmer at Centenary College and the assistance in proofreading of Ursala Pedrazini of Mt. Shasta, California and of Kay Theisen, a graduate student in English at the University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh.

Our good friend and colleague Hensley C. Woodbridge passed away before we were able to complete this project. We wish to dedicate our work on this book to his cherished memory.

S.N.

E.L.

Copyright � 2004 by Vil M. Bykov