The short story is one of the most skilled and entertaining of literary forms. This marvellous collection rangers over nearly five thousand years and includes stories from countries all round the world. Many of the great classical authors are included such as Dickens, Hardy, Balzac, Zola, de Maupassant, Tolstoy, Chekhov, Hawthorne, O. Henry and Poe. Other writers equally worthy of fame, but little known outside their own countries, have been specially translater for this volume.

The stories have been arranged under their country of origin and each section is introduced by a compact survey of the development of the short story within that country. Every story is preceded by a useful biographical note on the author.

Altogether, 178 different tales have been gathered here, each among the best of its kind. Tragic, comic, romantic or macabre, they are guaranteed to bring hours of pleasure to every reader.