Alex MacLean was the inspiration for the title character, Wolf Larsen, in Jack London's bestselling novel, The Sea-Wolf. 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, The sealing dispute brought the United States and Britain to the brink of war, with Canadian sealing interests frequently enmeshed in espionage, scientific debate, diplomatic negotiations, and vexing questions of maritime and environmental law.