This collection of Kipling's short stories follows the development of his work over fifty years, and range from the harsh, cruel, world of the "Indian" stories, through the "experimental modernism of his middle period, to the highly wrought subtleties of his later pieces."--Page 4 of cover.

Subtitle from added title page.

The gate of the hundred sorrows --In the house of Suddhoo -- The strange ride of Morrowbie Jukes -- Lispeth -- Beyond the pale -- Dray wara yow dee -- At the pit's mouth -- A wayside comedy -- The story of Muhammed Din -- Little Tobrah -- The finances of the gods -- Baa baa, black sheep -- The man who would be king -- Naboth -- On the city wall -- 'The city of dreadful night' -- At the end of the passage -- The drums of the fore and aft -- With the main guard -- On Greenhow Hill -- Without benefit of clergy -- The bridge-builders -- The Maltese cat -- 'The finest story in the world' -- The ship that found herself -- Mrs Bathurst -- 'They' -- 'Wireless' -- The village that voted the earth was flat -- The house surgeon -- Mary Postgate -- A Madonna of the trenches -- The Janeites -- His gift -- The wish house -- The gardener -- Dayspring mishandled -- The manner of men.