"Adapted and illustrated for young readers. Buck, a wealthy judge's dog, leads a quiet life until he is kidnapped, sold and taken to the freezing north. Forced to become a sled dog, Buck learns to love the harsh, natural world. When the time comes, will he return to his former life as a pet, or will he embrace the call of the wild?"--Back cover.

Program notes by Nat Hentoff.

Historian Eric Foner chronicles the way in which Americans -- black and white -- responded to the unprecedented changes unleashed by the war and the end of slavery. He addresses the quest of emancipated slaves searching for economic autonomy and equal citizenship, and describes the remodeling of Southern society, the evolution of racial attitudes and patterns of race relations, and the emergence of a national state possessing vastly expanded authority...