Author Description

This four-volume collection of English short stories demonstrates the excellence and variety of short fiction written in the English language during the 20th century. Each volume covers a different period and represents the most distinguished writers of their day.The first volume, The Dragon's Head, covers the period between the turn of the century and the outbreak of the Second World War. No other collection of English short stories concentrates on this period. It includes stories by Stella Benson, John Galsworthy, Richard Hughes, M.R. James, Somerset Maugham, Leonard Merrick, Naomi Mitchison, Geoffrey Moss, Saki, Frank O'Connor, Dorothy L. Sayers, Sir Hugh Walpole, and H.G. Wells.The second volume, The Killing Bottle, covers the period between the 1930s and 40s. Chosen by Dan Davin, the collection includes stories by writers of international reputation and importance such as Elizabeth Bowen, Joyce Cary, Walter de la Mare, Graham Greene, L.P. Hartley, Somerset Maugham, Frank O'Connor, V.S. Pritchett, William Sansom, Dylan Thomas, Evelyn Waugh, and Angus Wilson. Davin has also contributed a preface and biographical notes.The third volume, Charmed Lives, covers the period between the 1950s and 60s. It includes selections made by T.S. Dorsch that come from countries as diverse as Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand, South Africa, Nigeria, and the West Indies. It contains stories by Mary Lavin, William Sansom, Dal Stivens, Viola Meynell, Maurice Shadbolt, H.E. Bates, Bill Naughton, L.P. Hartley, Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, John Wain, L.E. Jones, Nadine Gordimer, Peter Ustinov, May C. Jenkins, Morley Callaghan, Norah Lofts, David Owoyele, Angus Wilson, Rhys Davies, and George Lamming. Dorsch also provides a preface and biographical notes.Covering the period between the 1960s and 70s, the fourth volume, The Green Man Revisited & Other Stories, contains stories that take place in a wide range of settings, including an Afrikaans township, an Indian village, and a South-Coast boarding-house. Chosen by Roger Sharrock for the intrinsic excellence and originality of the individual stories, this collection offers selections by Chinua Achebe, Kingsley Amis, George MacKay Brown, Morley Callaghan, Elspeth Davie, Susan Hill, Dan Jacobson, Benedict Kiely, Bernard Malamud, Olivia Manning, Gordon Meyer, Vias Naipaul, R.K. Narayan, Jean Rhys, Frank Sargeson, Elizabeth Taylor, William Trevor, Frank Tuohy, John Updike, and Patrick White.