This is a fascinating selection of Kipling's most famous short stories, bringing together the very best of his work. "Life's Handicap" reflects his experiences of India, and contains two horror stories which permeate the collection with an air of haunted destinies.

Delusions and obsessions, past lives and the slums of London in 1890 are the diverse topics featured in "Many Inventions". While "Traffics and Discoveries" contains three tales in which the subject matter ranges from unexplained mystery and the supernatural to an other-worldly house full of elusive but charming children. The Maltese Cat is Kipling's well-loved story about a polo pony.

These stories remind us once again that Kipling is an undisputed master of story-telling.