Canadian writer James Oliver Curwood (1878–1929) became famous as an excellent expert on the North: its harsh and beautiful nature, the morals of its inhabitants. The heroes of the novel “In the Wilds of the North” are the lame puppy Peter and Jolly Roger, a robber pursued by the Canadian police twice cross the entire country - from south to north and back. This allows Curwood to describe different areas of the country, the relationship between whites and Indians, and the morals of the northwestern royal police. “Swift Lightning” is a story about a northern wolf mixed with dog blood. Curwood reveals an unrivaled understanding of the psyche of animals, their complex relationships with humans and with each other.