Books with title The Scarlet Plague:

THE way led along upon what had once been the embankment of a railroad. But no train had run uponit for many years. The forest on either side swelled up the slopes of the embankment and crested acrossit in a green wave of trees and bushes. The trail was as narrow as a man's body, and was no more than awild-animal runway. Occasionally, a piece of rusty iron, showing through the forest-mould, advertisedthat the rail and the ties still remained. In one place, a ten-inch tree, bursting through at a connection,had lifted the end of a rail clearly into view. The tie had evidently followed the rail, held to it by thespike long enough for its bed to be filled with gravel and rotten leaves, so that now the crumbling,rotten timber thrust itself up at a curious slant. Old as the road was, it was manifest that it had been ofthe mono-rail type.An old man and a boy travelled along this runway. They moved slowly, for the old man was very old, atouch of palsy made his movements tremulous, and he leaned heavily upon his staff. A rude skull-cap ofgoat-skin protected his head from the sun. From beneath this fell a scant fringe of stained and dirty-white hair. A visor, ingeniously made from a large leaf, shielded his eyes, and from under this he peeredat the way of his feet on the trail. His beard, which should have been snow-white but which showed thesame weather-wear and camp-stain as his hair, fell nearly to his waist in a great tangled mass. About hischest and shoulders hung a single, mangy garment of goat-skin. His arms and legs, withered and skinny,betokened extreme age, as well as did their sunburn and scars and scratches betoken long years ofexposure to the elements.The boy, who led the way, checking the eagerness of his muscles to the slow progress of the elder,likewise wore a single garment—a ragged-edged piece of bear-skin, with a hole in the middle throughwhich he had thrust his head. He could not have been more than twelve years old. Tucked coquettishlyover one ear was the freshly severed tail of a pig. In one hand he carried a medium-sized bow and anarrow.On his back was a quiverful of arrows. From a sheath hanging about his neck on a thong, projectedthe battered handle of a hunting knife. He was as brown as a berry, and walked softly, with almost acatlike tread. In marked contrast with his sunburned skin were his eyes—blue, deep blue, but keen andsharp as a pair of gimlets. They seemed to bore into aft about him in a way that was habitual. As hewent along he smelled things, as well, his distended, quivering nostr

This novella explores life following a devastating plague that wipes out most of humanity.An early science-fiction story set in 2073, sixty years after a devastating plague wipes out most of the planet's population. One of the few survivors recounts the story of life before and during the plague to his grand-children who have problems believing any of the tale.

The Scarlet Plague is a post-apocalyptic fiction novel written by Jack London and originally published in London Magazine in 1912. The story takes place in 2073, sixty years after an uncontrollable epidemic, the Red Death, has depopulated the planet. James Howard Smith is one of the few survivors of the pre-plague era left alive in the San Francisco area, and as he realizes his time grows short, he tries to impart the value of knowledge and wisdom to his grandsons. But his efforts are in vain, for they live the primeval life of hunter-gatherers and ridicule his recollections of the past, which sound totally unbelievable to them.

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THE way led along upon what had once been the embankment of a railroad. But no train had run upon it for many years. The forest on either side swelled up the slopes of the embankment and crested across it in a green wave of trees and bushes. The trail was as narrow as a man's body, and was no more than a wild-animal runway. Occasionally, a piece of rusty iron, showing through the forest-mould, advertised that the rail and the ties still remained. In one place, a ten-inch tree, bursting through at a connection, had lifted the end of a rail clearly into view. The tie had evidently followed the rail, held to it by the spike long enough for its bed to be filled with gravel and rotten leaves, so that now the crumbling, rotten timber thrust itself up at a curious slant. Old as the road was, it was manifest that it had been of the mono-rail type.

The year is 2073. An uncontrollable disease, the Scarlet Plague, has wiped out most of the world's people six decades earlier. The cities are destroyed. An old man, James Howard Smith, wanders the depopulated land with his three grandsons. They are hunter-gatherers now, but Smith still remembers the arrival of the plague - the fear, the sudden deaths, the fires, the fighting and looting - and the world before the pandemic, the days of culture and plentiful food. He tries to tell his story, but the three boys can scarcely comprehend his tale of the destruction of a world long gone...Originally published in 1912, Jack London's dystopian novella The Scarlet Plague is an eerily prescient book, and a timely warning about the fragility of civilisation.

This novella explores life following a devastating plague that wipes out most of humanity.An early science-fiction story set in 2073, sixty years after a devastating plague wipes out most of the planet's population. One of the few survivors recounts the story of life before and during the plague to his grand-children who have problems believing any of the tale.

The Scarlet Plague I THE way led along upon what had once been the embankment of a railroad. But no train had run upon it for many years. The forest on either side swelled up the slopes of the embankment and crested across it in a green wave of trees and bushes. The trail was as narrow as a man's body, and was no more than a wild-animal runway. Occasionally, a piece of rusty iron, showing through the forest-mould, advertised that the rail and the ties still remained. In one place, a ten-inch tree, bursting through at a connection, had lifted the end of a rail clearly into view. The tie had evidently followed the rail, held to it by the spike long enough for its bed to be filled with gravel and rotten leaves, so that now the crumbling, rotten timber thrust itself up at a curious slant. Old as the road was, it was manifest that it had been of the mono-rail type. An old man and a boy travelled along this runway. They moved slowly, for the old man was very old, a touch of palsy made his movements tremulous, and he leaned heavily upon his staff. A rude skull-cap of goat-skin protected his head from the sun. From beneath this fell a scant fringe of stained and dirty-white hair. A visor, ingeniously made from a large leaf, shielded his eyes, and from under this he peered at the way of his feet on the trail. His beard, which should have been snow-white but which showed the same weather-wear and camp-stain as his hair, fell nearly to his waist in a great tangled mass. About his chest and shoulders hung a single, mangy garment of goat-skin. His arms and legs, withered and skinny, betokened extreme age, as well as did their sunburn and scars and scratches betoken long years of exposure to the elements.

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The Scarlet Plague is a post-apocalyptic fiction novel written by Jack London and originally published in London Magazine in 1912.The story takes place in 2073, sixty years after an uncontrollable epidemic, the Red Death,has depopulated the planet. James Howard Smith is one of the few survivors of the pre-plague era left alive in the San Francisco area, and as he realizes his time grows short, he tries to impart the value of knowledge and wisdom to his grandsons. But his efforts are in vain, for they live the primeval life of hunters-gatherers and ridicule his recollections of the past, which sound totally unbelievable to them.

Outside the ruins of San Francisco, a former UC Berkeley professor of literature recounts the chilling sequence of events which led to his current lowly state - a gruesome pandemic which killed nearly every living soul on the planet, in a matter of days. Modern civilization tottered and fell, and a new race of barbarians - the western world's brutalized workers - assumed power everywhere. Over the space of a few decades, all learning has been lost. Unlike the professor on Gilligan's Island, the narrator is the least useful member of a thriving tribe, whose younger generation (who boast names like Hoo-Hoo and Har-Lip) are mostly descended from the tribe's brutish founder. He was known only by the title of his former occupation, so the tribe's name is: Chauffeur.