Robert Service was born in Lancashire, England, but at age 21 moved to Canada and eventually ended up in the Yukon during the gold rush. His poems "The Shooting of Dan McGrew" and "The Cremation of Sam McGee" helped secure his reputation as the “Bard of the Yukon.” During World War I, Service was an ambulance driver and stretcher bearer for the Red Cross. This volume of poems springs from these experiences during the war. - Summary by Larry Wilson