Jack London published his tenth book, The Sea Wolf, in October 1904. The first printing of forty thousand copies sold out immediately. Ambrose Bierce praised “the tremendous creation of Wolf Larsen - the setting up of such a figure is enough for a man to do in one lifetime.” London had based Wolf Larsen on the notorious pirate and seal poacher Alexander McLean. He admitted this to reporters and interviewers, but was careful to say that he himself had never sailed with McLean.
Following the release of the book, arrest warrants were issued for McLean in the U.S., Canada, Japan and Russia, giving McLean a motive for seeking revenge on London.