The Irish are arguably the most literate people in the world. The number of famous Irish authors, from Joyce to Trevor and from Goldsmith to O'Brien, is a clear testimony to that. In this rich selection, we have concentrated on some of the early Irish writers who were particularly adept at the art of writing good short stories.

Stories range from Gerald Griffin's chilling tale, The Brown Man, to the delicate and closely observed Araby, taken from James Joyce's Dubliners, about adolescent sexual awakening. Also included are Oscar Wilde's stylish and witty story The Model Millionaire, about a young man on whom good fortune smiles; Oliver Goldsmith's Adventures of a Strolling Player, a compressed narrative of a peripatetic existence; Sheridan Le Fanu's story about the 'Faustian' Sir Dominick Sarsfield; William Castleton's wily distiller Bob Pentland and his outwitting of the excide man; and Agnes Castle's romantic Rosanna. They combine in a distinctive potpourri of stories written by Irish story tellers and inspired by Irish life and character.