Greatest Short Stories – Vol. IV

Great Short Stories - First Edition - 1940
Three Star Rating
Selma Lagerlof
Selma Lagerlof

The fourth volume of the P.F. Collier & Son’s edition of Greatest Short Stories introduces the works of European authors from the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

High Point: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s “Scandal in Bohemia.”

Low Point: “The Duel” by Nikolai Dmitrievitch Teleshov

Author: Various (edited by P.F. Collier & Son Publishing)

Publication Date: 1940

Genre: Anthology


Illustration from Scandal in Bohemia
Illustration from “Scandal in Bohemia”
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The fourth volume of the P.F. Collier & Son’s edition of Greatest Short Stories introduces the works of European authors from the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

This collection includes writings from classic authors such as Anton Pavlovitch Chekhov, Guy de Maupassant, and Robert Louis Stevenson.

Highlights of this volume include:

  • “The Outlaws” by Selma Lagerlöf – A story of one man’s attempt to save another’s soul.
  • “The Hanging at La Piroche” by Alexandre Dumas – A whimsical look at an accused thief’s hanging.
  • “The Gray Nun” by Nataly von Eschstruth – A truly creepy ghost story.
  • “A Scandal in Bohemia” by Arthur Conan Doyle – The classic tale where Sherlock Holmes meets his match in more ways than one.

As with the earlier volumes, this anthology works well as a literary palate cleanser between cover-to-cover reads.  And Greatest Short Stories is a reminder of how much can be accomplished in a handful of pages.


Quotes

[From “Scandal in Bohemia” by Arthur Conan Doyle]

It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data.  Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts.


Sources For This Book

Free eBook (Project Gutenberg): Not available

Free Audiobook (LibriVox): Not available

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