Man Who Would Be King: Selected Stories of Rudyard Kipling

A collection of stories features the tale of two ex-British soldiers who try to establish their own kingdom.
Rudyard Kipling is one of the most magical storytellers in the English language. Written over a period of five years, from 1885 to 1888, the seventeen stories in this collection offer a wry, vivid, and captivating glimpse of the development of Kipling's oeuvre over fifty years: the harsh, cruel realism that marks his most memorable works, the experimental modernism of his middle period, and the highly wrought subtleties of his later pieces. "The Man Who Would Be King" is a far- fetched adventure that serves as a parable of colonialism, while other stories feature tales of criminals, ghosts, femmes fatales, madness, and murder.
Rudyard Kipling is one of the most magical storytellers in the English language. This new selection brings together the best of his short writings, following the development of his work over fifty years. They take us from the harsh, cruel, vividly realized world of the 'Indian' stories that made his name, through the experimental modernism of his middle period to the highly-wrought subtleties of his later pieces. Including the tale of insanity and empire, 'The Man Who Would Be King', the high-spirited 'The Village that Voted the Earth Was Flat', the fable of childhood cruelty and revenge 'Baa Baa, Black Sheep', the menacing psychological study 'Mary Postgate' and the ambiguous portrayal of grief and mourning in 'The Gardener', here are stories of criminals, ghosts, femmes fatales, madness and murder.