The title story, 'Supertoys Last All Summer Long', filmed as 'AI' by Steven Spielberg, tells of a young boy who, whatever he does, cannot please his mother. He is puzzled by this, not realising that he is an android.

The tales told by Shahrazad over a thousand and one nights to delay her execution by the vengeful King Shahriyar have become among the most popular in both Eastern and Western literature. From the epic adventures of 'Aladdin and the Enchanted Lamp' and 'Sinbad the Sailor' to the farcical 'Young Woman and her Five Lovers' and the social criticism of 'The Tale of the Hunchback', the stories depict a fabulous world of all-powerful sorcerors, djinns imprisoned in bottles and enchanting princesses as well as providing a record of the medieval Eastern world.

These stories by Jeffrey Archer feature two friends who fall under the spell of a New York beauty with unexpected results; an offhand remark which is taken too seriously by a Chinese sculptor, and a British diplomat who becomes the owner of a priceless work of art.

A collection of twelve spellbinding stories, including the tale of a philandering husband who commits the perfect murder and the story of the finance minister trying to crack the secrets of a Swiss bank.

Twelve fast-paced stories including 'Cheap at Half the Price', 'Trial and Error', 'Chunnel Vision' and 'Never Stop on the Motorway'.

Kate Atkinson's first collection of short stories explore a world where imagination has the power to transform reality. The stories include: 'Charlene and Trudi Go Shopping', 'Tunnel of Fish', 'Transparent Fiction', 'Dissonance', 'Sheer Big Waste of Love', 'Unseen Translation', 'Evil Doppelgangers', 'The Cat Lover', 'The Bodies Vest', 'Temporal Anomaly', Wedding Favours' and 'Pleasureland'.

Dramatic events of Maya's disappearance leads to her very first encounter with 'Missa' Mangoose' during the terrifying ordeal. A lasting bond of friendship is formed with the family, leading to many more adventures. This audiobook is written and read in the Caribbean Patwa language.

A vintage collection of stories about Uncle Silas, a lovable bohemian and trouble-maker who loves a drop of cowslip wine, seen through the eyes of his captivated grand-nephew Edward.

The pride, pretensions and snobbery of the potteries are handled by Arnold Bennett with amused tolerance. Most of his stories, like the four linked adventures of Vera Cheswardine, set the home life of middle-class manufacturers of earthenware and porcelain against an evocative backdrop of coal dust.

From the acclaimed author of 'Circle of Friends' comes a vintage collection of four stories set in the heart of Dublin's fashionable Southside.

In these 22 stories, Binchy captures the intimate life dramas of several contemporary women who share a common London commute. From a woman's affair with a married man to a secretary's shocking secret life, these tales explore the intricacies of every woman's heart.

Human relationships are the dominant theme in this collection of short stories taken from the book 'On the Yankee Station'. The stories include: 'Love Hurts'; 'Killing Lizards'; 'My Girl in Skin-Tight Jeans'; 'Histoire Vache'; 'Hardly Ever'; 'Bizarre Situations' and 'Long Story Short'.

'The Stories of Ray Bradbury' contains the definitive collection of one of the greatest fantasists the world has ever known. In his world houses do their own housework and coffins do their own burying...

'The Stories of Ray Bradbury' contains the definitive collection of one of the greatest fantasists the world has ever known. In his world houses do their own housework and coffins do their own burying... This collection contains 21 tales.

'The Stories of Ray Bradbury' contains the definitive collection of one of the greatest fantasists the world has ever known. In his world houses do their own housework and coffins do their own burying... This collection contains 14 tales.

'The Stories of Ray Bradbury' contains the definitive collection of one of the greatest fantasists the world has ever known. In his world houses do their own housework and coffins do their own burying... This collection contains15 tales.

A collection of fictional stories based on Bulgakov's own experiences during his first year as a young country doctor in pre-revolution North-west Russia. Bulgakov conveys perfectly the rural isolation and the difficulties he faced as a new, fresh-faced graduate, as he struggles to cope with often being stranded miles from the nearest source of electricity in howling blizzards.

Though 'The Arabian Nights' are generally known as stories for children, they were originally tales for adults. This selection of tales certainly inspired the imagination of Sir Richard Burton, the nineteenth-century explorer, linguist and erotologist who brought all his worldly experience and an expressive prose style to bear on the tales of Sinbad the Seaman and Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves.

Edited by novelist A.S. Byatt, this collection of thirty-seven stories has been selected from the 19th and 20th centuries, from 'The Haunted House' by Charles Dickens to 'Solid Geometry' by Ian McEwan. Other authors included range from Trollope, Hardy and D. H. Lawrence to P. G. Wodehouse, J. G. Ballard and Angela Carter.

Who exactly is Miss Holly Golightly? Adored, hated, wildly fascinating, extremely irritating - she is all of these things. Social misfits, especially the rich ones, cling to Miss Golightly's fashionable clothes. But no one really knows her; she doesn't even know herself. All who give themselves to her know she is full of love, but they also know it's not for them. Three other stories: 'House of Flowers', 'A Diamond Guitar', and 'A Christmas Memory' are included.

A dramatisation that brings to life a beloved author. From Cather's experiences on the prairie come stories about the frontier such as 'O Pioneers!' and 'My Antonia', plus three of her poems: 'Prairie Spring', 'Prairie Dawn' and 'Evening Song'.

A selection of stories by Willa Cather, a consummate story-teller who represents the American mid-west and prairies as no other author can.

A collection of some of the great short stories from the Russian master of the genre.

Here are 12 stories, from the brightly comic to the overtly tragic. Each full of the sharpest observations of personality and situation, and with implications beyond their brief form: a dying actor, children playing a game, a tragic cabman, an orator's mistake and, perhaps most richly of all, a family laid bare in 'In The Ravine'.

The first collection of stories featuring Father Brown, a small, round-faced and innocent Roman Catholic priest from East Anglia - who also happens to be a top-hole detective. The stories include 'The Blue Cross', 'The Secret Garden', 'The Queer Feet', 'The Flying Stars', 'The Invisible Man', 'The Honour of Israel', 'The Wrong Shape', 'The Sins of Prince Saradine', 'The Hammer of God', 'The Eye of Apollo', 'The Sign of the Broken Sword', and 'The Three Tools of Death'.

Father Brown, G. K. Chesterton's lovable Norfolk priest, has an uncanny knack of unravelling mysteries that leave lesser mortals floundering. In this collection, Father Brown uses his distinctive style of deduction to solve the seemingly unsolvable. As well as the title story, the other puzzles included are 'The Quick One', 'The Blast of the Book', 'The Green Man', 'The Pursuit of Mr Blue', 'The Crime of the Communist', The Insoluble Problem', 'The Point of the Pin' and 'The Vampire of the Village'. The fifth collection of Father Brown stories in a series of five.

Four stories of mystery solved by Miss Marple. As well as 'Death by Drowning', this collection includes 'The Thumbmark of St Peter', 'The Herb of Death' and 'The Affair at the Bungalow'.

When her friends from the Tuesday Night Club visit Miss Marple's house the conversation often turns to unsolved crimes. The following four cases; 'The Blue Geranium', 'The Four Suspects', 'The Companion' and 'A Christmas Tragedy' all confirm that in the sleepy village of St Mary Mead Miss Marple has observed enough about human nature to be more than a match for the most perspicacious investigator...

Six short stories taken from the book 'Poirot Investigates'. Hercule Poirot sets his little grey cells working on six more mysterious, apparently baffling, cases. The stories include 'The Disappearance of Mr Davenheim'; 'The Mystery of Hunter's Lodge'; 'The Adventure of the Cheap Flat'; 'The Adventure of The Italian Nobleman'; 'The Tragedy at Marsden Manor' and 'The Case of the Missing Will'.

Here are apparitions, mysterious deaths and strange, inexplicable visions to chill the blood. Stories range from those by masters of the genre like Sheridan Le Fanu and Ambrose Bierce to classic writers such as Emile Zola and Rudyard Kipling. Some are frightening, some poignant, while others leave a lingering taste of unease.

Over two centuries the horror story has attracted writers as diverse as Robert Louis Stevenson, E.F. Benson and Saki: writers both classical and comic, imaginative and realistic. The stories in this Penguin Classics collection are the cream of the horror genre and include the witty, the macabre and the plain terrifying.

A collection of four stories by Roald Dahl which includes 'The Visitor', 'Bitch' and two extracts from the notorious diairies of Oswald Hendryks Cornelius. In 'The Great Switcheroo' and 'The Last Act', the power of sex and desire is explored. CONTAINS ADULT THEMES.

Bizarre, amusing and grotesque, these tales enter the unexpected world of Dahl. They illustrate the different lives that people lead: a life of chance, of risk and of plain bad luck. The stories are specially chosen for teenagers to introduce them to Dahl's work for adults.

Things are not what they seem - turtles, fingersmiths, the Mildenhall treasure, even a man who could see with his eyes closed. Everyday life is twisted into powerful and sometimes terrifying fantasies in these seven sinister, macabre and wholly unexpected short stories.

A collection featuring a series of short stories, anecdotes, musings, essays and fables by Alphonse Daudet and extracts from the magazine 'The Idler' amongst others, written by the author of 'Three Men in a Boat', Jerome K. Jerome.

Short stories of cynicism and dark comedy including 'The Devil', 'The Jewels' and 'A Ruse'.

Maupassant is hailed as one of the greatest masters of the short story. This collection focusses upon the people and countryside of Normandy in France, portrayed in vivid colour and with great warmth. The skilful blend of tragedy and comedy make Maupassant's 'Normandy Stories' enduring favourites.

A reflective and honest portrayal of war from Len Deighton in this collection of short stories. There are no heroics, just soldiers in despair, fearing for their lives every time they go out onto the battlefield.

How can the discovery of a short story by a beautiful Oxford graduate lead Inspector Morse to her murderer? What awaits Morse and Lewis in Room 231 of the Randolph Hotel? This collection of ten short stories includes 'As Good As Gold'.

This collection of Sherlock Holmes stories includes 'The Copper Beeches', 'The Red-Headed League', 'The Speckled Band' and 'The Stockbroker's Clerk'.

Four classic tales from the casebook of Sherlock Holmes. The featured stories are: 'The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire', 'The Adventure of Shoscombe Old Place', 'The Adventure of the Illustrious Client' and 'The Adventure of the Veiled Lodger'.

This audiobook contains six Sherlock Holmes stories: `The Adventure of the Empty House'; `The Adventure of the Devil's Foot'; `The Adventure of the Abbey Grange'; 'The Adventure of the Cardboard Box'; 'The Man With the Twisted Lip' and 'The Adventure of the Bruce-Partington Plans'.

Four classic detective stories: `A Scandal in Bohemia', `A Case of Identity', `The Red-Headed League' and `The Boscombe Valley Mystery'.

Four more classic detective stories: `The Five Orange pips', `The Man with the Twisted Lip', `The Blue Carbuncle' and 'The Speckled Band'.

A collection of classic investigations. This audiobook contains: 'The Adventure of the Blanched Soldier', 'The Adventure of the Creeping Man', 'The Adventure of the Mazarin Stone' and 'The Adventure of the Three Gables'.

A collection of humerous anecdotes about Durrell's youth, his larger-than-life family and friends of both the two and four-legged variety. In Corfu, his mother is given a calamitous birthday party which starts with the hi-jacking of the icebox and ends with the entire gathering marooned on a remote and deserted beach, whilst at a dinner party in Mamfa, uninvited guests include a green mamba, numerous geckos and eight tree frogs.

When Mother starts showing an interest in passion flowers the children decide it's time she got married again, but young Gerry is more concerned about the marital affairs of his toads than those of his mother. This collection of eight short stories introduces an eccentric cast of characters including a prize truffling pig in France, an aging Memphis belle, a gambling nun in Monte Carlo and a foul-mouthed parrot.

Written for Esquire magazine late in Fitzgerald's career, 'The Pat Hobby Stories' are a bittersweet, humorous recollection of a down-and-out Hollywood screenwriter trying to break back into show business, whose career has started to flag since the emergence of 'upstarts' such as Orson Welles.

Five short stories set in the world of horse-racing from Dick Francis: 'Dead on Red'; 'Raid at Kingdom Hill', 'Collision Course'; 'The Gift' and 'Haig's Death'.

A collection of short stories, including the long, three-part story, 'Telegony', which is a depiction of three generations of women and the clash of two very different cultures, English and Italian. The collection includes two ghost stories, 'Dead Children' and 'The Meeting House'.

These stories, all written between 1929 and 1954, all share the themes that feature so strongly in Graham Greene's novels: humour and violence, pity and hatred, betrayal and pursuit. Comic, sad, shocking and tragic, they recount the tales of Mr Maling's loud stomach, destructive gangs of children, indiscretions revealed and secrets uncovered. CONTAINS ADULT THEMES.

Hardy's first collection of short stories was written between 1879-1888, with many of the tales set before Hardy's birth in 1840. These humorous and affectionate observations of rustic life include the following tales: 'An Imaginative Woman', 'The Three Strangers', 'The Withered Arm', 'Fellow-Townsmen', 'Interlopers at the Knap' and 'The Distracted Preacher'.

Suburban witches, defiant old ladies, ageing monsters, suicidal Lottery winners, wolf men, dolphin women and middle-aged manufacturers of erotic leatherwear all feature in this collection of 22 short stories from the author of 'Chocolat'.

From the anteater who served in the First World War, to the zebra that ran a historic horse race, Rolf Harris introduces some of the worlds bravest, funniest and smartest animals. There's Priscilla, the swimming pig who saved a little boy from drowning; the chimpanzee who escaped from a London zoo by hopping on to a double-decker bus; fainting goats, skateboarding cats, and brilliant dolphins. Inspiring, touching and sometimes hilarious, after reading 'True Animal Tales' you'll never look at your own pets in the same way again!

The eight stories in this collection highlight Hemingway's incomparable ear for the nuances of ordinary speech which make him perhaps the most widely imitated writer of the 20th century, and certainly one of its most influential. The stories included are: 'The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber'; 'The Snows of Kilimanjaro'; 'The Capital of the World'; 'The Killers'; 'The Undefeated'; 'A Clean, Well-Lighted Place'; 'The Gambler; the Nun and the Radio' and 'Fifty Grand'.

The stories of ten dogs, from border collies and sheepdogs to the exploits of the Pekinese Tricki Woo, one of the unforgettable canine stars of Herriot's Yorkshire-set memoirs of life as a country vet.

This volume is part of a series of novels, plays and stories intended for use at A Level. Set against a world of violence and pain, Susan Hill's collection of stories focuses on the individual's struggle for hope. In each story there is a fresh look at the sinister side of life and death - who will survive and who will be destroyed?

A young prep school boy, visiting his aunt's country house, finds company and friendship with the gentle beekeeper and begins teaching the man to read; a young country girl fights against becoming a down-trodden domestic skivvy like her dead mother, while another girl reaches a delicate understanding with an elderly blind man as they walk along the beach. Unexpected liaisons, relationships and sympathies, isolated and odd individuals all feature in this collection of short stories from Susan Hill.

Twelve completely new stories collected by novelist Nick Hornby, who also contributes an introduction about TreeHouse, an organisation that offers a unique and pioneering approach to the education of children with autism. Contributors include Robert Harris, Melissa Bank, Giles Smith, Patrick Marber, Colin Firth, Zadie Smith, Nick Hornby, Dave Eggers, Roddy Doyle, Helen Fielding, Irvine Welsh and John O'Farrell.

Ten further Creation Tales from the author of `How the Whale Became' (5325). These stories depict God's great triumphs and mistakes, with some animals delighted with their lot, and others less cheerful.

Feng Jicai is one of China's best-known writers. Trained as an artist and professional athlete, his life was shattered by events of the Cultural Revolution. As a result of those tumultuous years, he decided to embark upon a career as a professional writer. These two modern stories will introduce you to the idiosyncratic and intriguing world of Chinese culture.

In 'The Bridegroom', a vibrant collection of 12 stories, Ha Jin returns to Muji City, post-Cultural Revolution, where the confusions and excitements of transitions great and small spark off unpredictable consequences. These upheavals are seen through the lives of everyday men and women, arrested on trumped-up charges, applying for larger apartments, waiting to see an old flame and trying to lure a husband and daughter to New York.

A collection of short stories that show that love can stand the test of time.

A sequence of eight stories depicting middle-class Catholic life in Dublin, including 'Araby', 'Eveline' and 'The Dead'. The frustrations of childhood, disappointments of adolescence and mystery of sexual awakening are related with clarity and sensitivity.

Three classic stories from `Dubliners'. Joyce presents the city as struggling against its own lack of passion and commitment, and spiritually and politically isolated. The stories are `The Dead', `Grace' and `The Sisters'.

Garrison Keillor reads his own account of life in small-town America, fictionalised as the Midwestern town of Lake Wobegon. Often funny, sometimes sad, his detailed reminiscences of Lake Wobegon captured the public's imagination when first broadcast on BBC Radio 4.

This festive compilation of Keillor's distinctive brand of storytelling features highlights from 'A Prairie Home Companion', favourite musical interludes and a special edition of News from Lake Wobegon.

John Tollefson leaves the American mid-west for New York to make a fine new batchelor life for himself. The only thing appearing to elude him is the love of Alida Freeman. Returning to Lake Wobegone he hears the Tollefson family and assorted residents sit and tell their stories.

Four complete tales of horror from the master of the modern macabre thriller. The stories are: 'The Raft' which features a primeval sea creature with an insatiable appetite; 'Mrs Todd's Shortcut'; 'The Monkey' which tells the story of an innocent-looking toy with sinister powers; and 'Gramma' who only wanted to hug little George - even after her death.

'Plain Tales from the Hills' is an outstanding collection of stories of colonial life capturing all the richness of India's sights, sounds and smells. The tales Kipling tells are ones of loss, suffering and broken faith, a far cry from the celebratory patriotism that surrounded the Empire at the time. He writes with passion about the cultural, racial and sexual barriers of the day and the stories resound with poignancy.

School life, family argument, passion, love and broken love; these subjects lie at the heart of this selection of short stories. The stories included are: 'Adolf', 'Rex', 'A Prelude', 'Lessford's Rabbits', 'A Lesson on a Tortoise', 'The Shades of Spring', 'Second Best', 'Her Turn', 'Tickets Please', and 'The Lovely Lady'.

In honour of HRF Keating's 80th birthday, his fellow Detection Club members and the leading lights in crime fiction serve up a new selection of conundrums. The stories are: 'Tuesday's Child' by Lionel Davidson, 'Sherlock Holmes and the Titanic Swindle' by Len Deighton, 'Uncle Harry' by Reginald Hill, 'The Case of the Curious Quorum' by Colin Dexter, 'Hearing Ghote' by PD James, 'Kali in Kensington Gardens' by Liza Cody, 'Perfidious Albion' by Catherine Aird, 'Popping Round to the Post' by Peter Lovesey, 'Mayhem at Mudchester' by James Melville, 'Keeping My Head' by Andrew Taylor, 'Bearded Wonders' by Tim Heald, 'Sisters Under the Skin' by Robert Bernard, 'Initial Impact' by Simon Brett, 'A Case for Inspector Ghote' by June Thomson, 'Friends of the Garrick' by Michael Z Lewin, 'Bundobast on Voyage' by Jonathan Gash, 'Different Time, Different Place' by Michael Hartland, and 'Arkady Nikolaivich' by HRF Keating. SOME STRONG LANGUAGE AND ADULT THEMES.

Katherine Mansfield is often considered one of the finest short story writers in the English language. She focuses on the ordinary, the everyday reality of life as people live it, revealing profound ironies - both comic and tragic. This audiobook contains 'The Garden Party' and other stories including 'The Daughters of the Late Colonel', 'Her First Ball', 'The Singing Lesson' and 'The Stranger'.

Katherine Mansfield is often considered one of the finest short story writers in the English language. She focuses on the ordinary, the everyday reality of life as people live it, revealing profound ironies - both comic and tragic. This audiobook contains 'The Garden Party' and other stories.

Inspired by Maughams's own experiences as a British secret agent during the Second World War, this series of stories features a fictional spy, John Ashenden, whose dangerous assignments entangle him with traitors, assassins and beautiful but treacherous women.

A collection of short stories, all born of Maugham's experiences in Malaya, Singapore and other outposts of the former British Empire. The stories included are: 'Footprints in the Jungle', 'Mabel', 'P & O', 'The Door of Opportunity', 'The Buried Talent', 'Before the Party', 'Mr Know-All', 'Neil MacAdam', 'The End of the Flight' and 'The Force of Circumstance'.

This audiobook includes 'Episode', 'The Letter', 'The Luncheon', 'Mr Know-All' and 'Princess September'. 'The Letter' centres around a posied, elegant murderess and a self-assured colonial world where men and women are caught between English values and the rich ambiguity of their surroundings.

Mma Ramotswe reads the foreword she has written to these African tales, then goes on to narrate them all herself, passing them on to us verbally as her father's aunt did to her. From animal fables to mysterious forces residing in the landscape, this collection demonstrates the wealth and variety of African folk tales and the particular magic of Africa's spiritual roots.

White nights of passion and revenge in St Petersburg. A bingo-hall tyrant trapped by masked intruders. The sleazy flipside of the international publishing scene. An author succumbing to the deadly lure of cybersex. This audiobook contains grit, sex, glamour, intrigue and unexpected turns. CONTAINS ADULT THEMES.

A collection of 15 short stories in which Deborah Moggach writes of life and times in a caravan park, harassed teenagers and harangued fathers, a rock star writing his memoirs who can't remember a thing, opera lovers, Belgian lovers and young lovers.

There's a new wind blowing in this dazzling collection of new Rumpole stories. For the first time Rumpole finds himself appearing for an asylum-seeker at the Appeals Tribunal and - worst of all - his chambers have become a smoke-free zone. Includes 'Rumpole and the Old Familiar Faces', 'Rumpole and the Remembrance of Things Past', 'Rumpole and the Asylum Seekers', 'Rumpole and the Camberwell Carrot', 'Rumpole and the Actor Laddie', 'Rumpole and the Teenage Werewolf' and 'Rumpole Rests His Case'.

An eclectic, eccentric and altogether brain-bending collection of short stories from the Japanese author. The stories include 'The Ice Man', 'The Year of Spaghetti', 'The Mirror' and 'A Shinagawa Monkey'.

This is a collection of 12 stories featuring the best of classic and contemporary Scottish writing. The tales range from the comic to the haunting and fantastical.

In this collection, Elaine Stritch uses her less-than-dulcit tones to bring to life the bumptiousness of New York Society and the genius of Dorothy Parker.

There is a strong emphasis on steam trains in this spine chilling anthology of short stories. Authors include Charles Dickens, Agatha Christie and Arthur Conan Doyle.

A collection of short stories including a tale about a young woman on the threshold of marriage, and a man juggling a double life.

In this anthology, prolific writer Harold Pinter presents a selection of his own work, including `A Note on Shakespeare' (1950), the short stories `Kullus' (1949) and `Girls' (1995), poetry from `School Life' (1948), and a range of political pieces - including many letters to the press - on the United States, Cuba, Kurdistan and Nicaragua.

This collection of Poe's best stories contains all the terrifying and bewildering tales that characterise his work. As well as the Gothic horror of 'The Pit and the Pendulum' and other similar tales, all of Poe's 'Auguste Dupin' stories are included.

This chilling collection of stories and poems by the master of the macabre includes such classics as 'The Masque of the Red Death', 'The Raven' and 'The Fall of the House of Usher'.

The incomparable Basil Rathbone reads six of Poe's best tales of horror: 'The Tell-Tale Heart', a story of a man's descent into insanity; 'The Fall of the House of Usher', a tale in which ghostly sighs echo through the night; 'The Cask of Amontillado', a notorious chronicle of revenge; 'The Black Cat, The Masque of the Red Death', and the nerve-wracking classic, 'The Pit and the Pendulum'.

'The Bran Tub' is a collection of poems and short stories, which includes the self-explanatory 'A Week in the Life of a Yorkshire Farmer's Wife in 1934'. A short story called 'The Love Child' concludes the collection.

A collection of short stories originally published in glossy magazines in the l960s and 1970s.

A collection of V.S Pritchett's sympathetic and often humorous stories featuring ordinary people set in 20th century England.

This collection of stories probes the patterns of everyday life to pinpoint the frailties, the desires of deception, and the guilty secrets of human beings. It includes a story featuring Inspector Wexford and ends with 'The Strawberry Tree', a novella-length tale of lost innocence set on the island of Majorca.

Five short stories in which Inspector Wexford's detective talents are put to good use in solving cases ranging from crimes of passion and violence in Kingsmarkham to a bizarre murder in Yugoslavia.

In these nine stories, Salman Rushdie looks at what happens when East meets West, at the forces that pull his characters first in one direction, then the other. Fantasy and realism collide as a rickshaw driver writes letters describing his film star career in Bombay; a mispronunciation leads to romance and an unusual courtship in sixties London; two childhood friends turned diplomats live out in a violent world fantasies hatched by 'Star Trek'; and Christopher Columbus dreams of consummating his relationship with Queen Isabella.

From one of the masters of wit, this collection of off-beat and unusual short stories all feature animals and includes 'The She-Wolf'; 'The Mouse'; 'The Broag'; 'The Boar Pig'; 'The Remoulding of Groby Lington'; 'The Wolves of Cernogratz'; 'Mrs Packletide's Tiger'; 'The Lull'; 'Laura'; 'The Stalled Ox'; 'Tobermory'; 'The Bull' and 'The Elk'.

Three stories; 'Striding folly', 'The Haunted Policeman' and 'Talboys', all feature Lord Peter Wimsey, after his courtship and marriage to Harriet Vane, extracting vital clues from mysterious circumstances. 'The Haunted Policeman' features a house numbered thirteen on a street of even numbers; and in 'Talboys' one of Lord Peter's own children is accused of theft.

Helen Simpson's third collection of short stories is about the hectic day-to-day whirlpool of women's lives - women who want to improve their lot, women who yearn to 'get a life' better than their own. Simpson writes about caring for children with a knowing honesty about the accompanying sacrifices and tribulations.

Four chillingly erotic stories that illuminate the darkest, most carefully concealed corners of the psyche: 'The Revelations of 'Becka Paulson' by Stephen King; ' A Glowing Future' by Ruth Rendell; 'Cleave the Vampire' by Patrick McGrath and 'Death and the Single Girl' by Thomas M. Disch. CONTAINS ADULT THEMES.

Wednesdays for Mrs Taylor are sacrosanct. On Wednesdays, she escapes from unbearable reality into a fantasy world, a world to which she feels she rightly belongs. But to get to this world she has to travel by train. In 'The Undivided', Peggy Slater's husband earns a great deal of money but how does that affect the couple who live in the next street? 'Hannah, The Maiden' tells the story of a happy shepherd on New Year's Eve when he anxiously awaits the presence of a stranger who will change his life forever. The protagonist in 'The Beginning Of Eternity' considers himself finished. A timid man by nature, he distrusts uncontrolled emotions - but does he cope when he goes down the cellar?

This richly entertaining collection of short stories, from some of Ireland's most celebrated writers, draws on many universal human experiences, setting them within Ireland's unique landscape and culture.

A collection of 12 stories, mostly set in Ireland. The title story is a small, sad piece, about a woman holidaying alone in an Italian hotel.

In the tradition of Alan Bennett's 'Talking Heads', Lynne Truss' twelve monologues are about love, romance, friendship and family. Here are six men and six women, each with a very different story to tell, ranging from the wife who feels better when her husband disappears to the pedant who undergoes a TV makeover and the Olympic swimmer who can't escape the shadow of her sister.

Fourteen amusing stories involving a brief misunderstanding: 'A Friendly Holiday' by Nina Tucknott; 'A Chip off the Old Block' by Pat Hope; 'The Only Girl for Me' by Lynda Wakeling, 'A Home Improvement Loan' by Nina Tucknott; 'A Brief Misunderstanding' by Elizabeth Carr, 'A Day Trip to Paris' by Joan Stanley, 'The Orange Bandanna' and 'Birthday Blues' by Pam Weaver; 'Bubble' by Susan Wright'; 'Good Girl' by Joan Stanley; 'Country Roads' and 'Green Tea and Worms' by Elizabeth Carr; 'Terror in the Afternoon' by Pam Weaver and 'Communication' by Joan Stanley.

Ten gentle tales of love: 'A Little Bit of Love' by Pat Hopper; 'Where John Is' by Judith Mundy; 'Daddy's Coming Home' and 'The Sound of a Voice' by Joan Moules; 'Amazing Grace' by Alison Grant; 'Barney's Big Idea' by Lynda Cartner and 'Mrs Wazz' by Joan Stanley.

A selection of 11 light-hearted stories and a corner shop trilogy: 'Simpson' by Ian Mallender; 'Thirty Something' by Lynda Wakeling; 'Bubble Tennis'; 'Sixth Sense' and 'Acting on Impulse' by Pam Weaver; 'A Fitting Tale' and 'I've Got a Little Shop' by Joan Stanley; 'Do Computers Improve a Man's Image?' by Mike Stanley and 'Junk'; 'Number's Up'; 'Fun in My Little Shop'; 'Footprints in the Cornflakes'; 'A Stationary Tale' and 'Getting Down To It In My Little Shop' by Joan Stanley.

These seven short stories, by well-known writers such as Dashiel Hammett, Patricia Highsmith and Nancy Pickard, will keep you on the edge of your seat...

A collection of 13 short stories by American authors including Mark Twain, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Kate Chopin and Herman Melville.

From the gritty realism of the wild, as depicted by Jack London and Ernest Hemingway, to F. Scott Fitzgerald's portrait of over-civilised repression and the psychological horror of Edith Wharton's 'A Journey', this wide-ranging collection portrays a nation undergoing dramatic upheaval.

A collection of short stories from 1950 to the present day from James Baldwin, Saul Bellow and Tobias Wolff.

Dedicated to cat lovers everywhere, this collection of stories comprises: 'The Story of Webster' by P.G Wodehouse; 'The Foolhardy Mouse and the Cautious Cat' by James Thurber; 'Tobermory' by Saki; 'The Black Cat' by Edgar Allan Poe; 'My Cat Jeoffrey' by Christopher Smart; 'The Cat that Walked by Himself' by Rudyard Kipling; 'The Siamese Cat' by James Thurber; 'The Owl and the Pussycat' by Edward Lear; 'To a Cat' by John Keats; 'Teaching Bluebell Pingpong' by Muriel Spark; 'Dick Baker's Cat' by Mark Twain; 'Ming's Biggest Prey' by Patricia Highsmith; 'The Cat and the Lifeboat' by James Thurber; 'The Cheshire Cat' by Lewis Carroll and 'I Will Finish with the Story of a Good Cat', author unknown.

From a fearsome beast to a murderous obsession, these chilling tales contain all manner of disconcerting phenomena. Written by masters of the genre, these stories will linger in the mind long after the final word is spoken.

From a fearsome beast to a murderous obsession, these chilling tales contain all manner of disconcerting phenomena. Written by masters of the genre, these stories will linger in the mind long after the final word is spoken.

This collection includes both vintage crime stories such as 'Loopy' by Ruth Rendell; 'Insufficient Evidence' by Frances Hegarty; 'Nine Points of the Law' by E. W Hornung; 'The Case for the Defence' by Graham Greene; 'Bluebeards Bathtub' by Margery Allingham and 'Hunted Down' by Charles Dickens as well the classic crime stories 'The Blue Cross' by G.K. Chesterton; 'Arsene Lupin in France' by Maurice Leblanc; 'The Complete Criminal' by Edgar Wallace and 'Markheim' by Robert Louis Stevenson.

The four short stories in this collection are Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's 'The Dying Detective', 'Thirteen Lead Soldiers' by Sapper, G. K Chesterton's 'The Man in the Passage' and J. G Reeder's tale about an inside bank robbery.

The second part of a collection of classic detective stories includes: 'Chimes' by Muriel Spark, 'The Assassins Club' by Nicholas Blake (Cecil Day Lewis), 'The Burglar' by Colin Dexter, 'The Purloined Letter' by Edgar Allan Poe, 'The Case of the Tragedies of the Greek Room' by Sam Rohmer and 'The Green Mamba' by Edgar Wallace.

A spine-tingling collection of the following 14 tales:' The Judge's House' by Bram Stoker; 'The Upper Berth' by F. Marion Crawford; 'Narrative of the Ghost of a Hand'; 'To Be Taken with a Grain of Salt' by Charles Dickens; 'The Tell-Tale Heart' by Edgar Allan Poe; 'Gabriel-Ernest ' by Saki; 'The Furnished Room' by O. Henry, 'My Own True Ghost Story' by Rudyard Kipling; 'Lost Hearts' by M. R. James; 'Called' by P.C. Wren; 'Who Knows?' by Guy de Maupassant; 'When I was Dead' by Vincent O' Sullivan; 'The Face' by E. F. Benson and 'The Open Window' by Saki.

A rich selection of Irish stories comprising: 'The Model Millionaire' by Oscar Wilde; 'Rosanna' by Agnes Castle; 'The Brown Man' by Gerald Griffin; 'Bob Pentland, or the Ganger Outwitted' by William Carleton; 'Araby' by James Joyce; 'Adventures of a Strolling Player' by Oliver Goldsmith and 'Sir Dominic Sarsfield' by Sheridan Le Fanu.

A collection of love stories including: 'The Sphinx Without a Secret' by Oscar Wilde; 'For Better or Worse' by W.W Jacobs; 'Angela' by W.S Gilbert; 'Mr & Mrs Dove' by Katherine Mansfield'; 'Georgie Porgie' by Rudyard Kipling; 'Genefer' by Sabine Baring-Gould; 'The Singing Lesson' by Katherine Mansfield; 'The Patch on the Quilt' by Sapper; 'The Melancholy Hussar of the German Legion' by Thomas Hardy; 'The Son's Veto' by Thomas Hardy; ' Perilous Play' by Louisa May Alcott; 'Spindleberries' by John Galsworthy and 'The Bagman's Story' by Charles Dickens.

The four stories in this collection include Baroness Orczy's 'The Mysterious Death on the Underground Railway', Maurice Leblanc's 'The Mysterious Railway Passenger,' Victor Whitechurch and E. Conway's 'A Warning in Red' and Freeman Wills Crofts's 'The Mystery of the Sleeping Car Express'.

The New Windmill Book of classic short stories from the 19th and 20th century by authors ranging from Anton Chekhov and Wilkie Collins to Graham Greene and James Joyce.

A collection of eight classic horror stories: 'The Monkey's Paw' by W.W Jacobs; 'Timber' by John Galsworthy; 'The Masque of the Red Death' by Edgar Allan Poe; 'The Squaw' by Bram Stoker; 'Martin's Close' by M.R James; 'The Man in the Bell' by W.E Aytoun; ' Caterpillers' by E. F Benson and 'A Tale of Terror' by Thomas Hood.

Seven chuckle-inducing tales including: 'Brugglesmith' by Rudyard Kipling, 'The Cricket Match' from 'England, their England' by A.G. Macdonell, 'Reginald on House Parties' by Saki, 'The Great Winglebury Duel' by Charles Dickens, 'The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County' by Mark Twain, 'A Photographer's Day Out' by Lewis Carroll and 'Jeff Peters as a Personal Magnet' by O. Henry.

If you like your murder stories with an unexpected twist, the following tales are for you: 'The Perfect Crime' by P.C Wren; 'Murder!' by Arnold Bennett; 'Which Make Them Remember' by Jack London; 'An Alpine Divorce' by Robert Barr; 'The Barrister's Story' by Sapper and 'B.24' by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

A collection of the following mysterious and chilling stories: 'The Man of the Night' by Edgar Wallace; 'No 1 Branch Line: The Signalman' by Charles Dickens; 'A Terribly Strange Bed' by Wilkie Collins; 'Sredni Vashtar' by Saki; 'The Werewolf' by Frederick Marryat; 'The Mezzotint' by M.R. James and 'The Black Cat' by Edgar Allan Poe.

The following spooky vampire stories are given a spine-tingling read by Richard Pasco: 'The Mark of the Beast' by Rudyard Kipling; 'Aurelia' by E.T.A Hoffman; 'Ligeia' by Edgar Allan Poe; 'Mrs Amsworth' by E. F Benson and 'Dracula's Guest' by Bram Stoker.

This classic collection includes the following stories written by women: 'The Wronged Woman' by Winifred Holtby; 'The Violet Car' by E. Nesbit; 'The Legacy' by Virginia Woolf; 'Bliss' by Katherine Mansfield; 'Atrophy' by Edith Wharton; 'The Half-Brothers' by Elizabeth Gaskell; 'Marriage a la Mode' by Katherine Mansfield; 'Lappin and Lapinova' by Virginia Woolf; 'The Mission of Jane' by Edith Wharton; 'The Red Room' by L.M. Montgomery; 'The Parvenue' by Mary Shelley and 'The Yellow Wallpaper' by Charlotte Perkins.

A collection of twenty classic short stories by masters of the genre.

A collection of classic short stories by masters of the genre.

Twenty-eight classic short stories by Arthur Conan Doyle, Jack London, James Joyce, Saki and Arnold Bennett.

Includes 25 stories by Arthur Conan Doyle, Jack London, James Joyce, Saki, Arnold Bennet and others.

A collection of classic short stories by masters of the genre.