Before Adam

Before Adam is a novel written by Jack London and originally published between 1906 and 1907 in several installments and a few years later as a book.

A man living in the early 20th century dreams that he is a Middle Pleistocene caveman hominid named Big Tooth. Narrated from his waking phases as a modern man, the protagonist narrates the way of life and hardships of that time, as well as the organization of society and survival itself.

Big Tooth lives in caves, together with his partner Swift One and his friend Lop Ear, in a kind of tribe called Folk and led with an iron fist by Red Eye. The tribe interacts with other groups of hominids who live in the trees, even more primitive, as well as with a more advanced group who know how to use fire and have more advanced weapons.

As in other stories by Jack London, the man faces a vast universe alone and defenseless and not without hardships. Although it touches on topics such as human evolution, the book does not pretend to be scientific so it is not rigorous in this aspect and is more focused on pure entertainment.

"These are our ancestors, and their history is our history."