Jack London may be known as an adventure writer (and an adventurer himself), but in 1912, he wrote a work of speculative fiction&mdash;more precisely, post-apocalyptic fiction. &quot;The Scarlet Plague&quot; was originally published in <i>London Magazine</i>.<br /><br />It&#39;s 2072, sixty years after the scarlet plague 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 realises his time grows short, he tries to impart the value of knowledge and wisdom to his grandsons.&nbsp;<br />Through his narrative, we learn how the plague spread throughout the world and of the struggles of the handful of survivors it left in its wake.&nbsp;