W. Somerset Maugham is one of the best-loved short story writersof the last 100 years. In this collection of his finest short workMaugham takes the listener to the sun-drenched Pacific islandswhere the Governor mercilessly abuses the inhabitants; to the storyRain, in which the Reverend and the prostitute play out oneof the most famous finales ever written; to the studies ofchauvinistic Colonels, and snide conversations in Edwardian drawingrooms, as well as at the gates of heaven. As an introduction to oneof the greatest writers in the English language Stephen Crossley'sreading is the perfect place to start.