Kipling's epic rendition of the imperial experience in India is also his greatest long work. Two men - Kim, a boy growing into early manhood, and the lama, an old ascetic priest - are fired by a quest. Kim is white, although born in India. While he wants to play the Great Game of imperialism, he is also spiritually bound to the lama and he tries to reconcile these opposing strands. A celebration of their friendship in an often hostile environment, Kim captures the opulence of India's exotic landscape, overlaid by the uneasy presence of the British Raj.

The Camel gets his Hump, the Whale his Throat and the Leopard his Spots in these bewitching stories which conjure up distant lands, the beautiful gardens of splendid palaces, the sea, the deserts, the jungle and its creatures. Inspired by Kipling's delight in human eccentricities and the animal world, and based on bedtime stories he told to his daughter, these strikingly imaginative fables explore the myths of creation, the nature of beasts and the origins of language and writing. They are linked by poems and scattered with Kipling's illustrations, which contain hidden jokes, symbols and puzzles.

Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) is often regarded as the unofficial Laureate of the British Empire. This selection of his poetry shows the development of Kipling's talent, his deepening maturity, and the growing sombreness of his poetic vision. It ranges from "Mandalay" and "Gunga Din", to "If" and "Epitaphs of the War".

Plain Tales from the Hills, Rudyard Kipling's first collection of short stories, established his reputation and brought India to the British imagination. Including the stories 'Lispeth', 'Beyond the Pale' and 'In the Pride of His Youth', they tell of soldiers, wise children, exiles, forbidden romances and divided identities, creating a rich portrait of Anglo-Indian society. Originally published for a newspaper in Lahore when Kipling was a journalist, the tales were later revised by him to re-create as vividly as possible the sights and smells of India for readers at home. Far from being a celebration of empire, these stories explore the barriers between races, classes and sexes, and convey all the tensions and contradictions of colonial life.

'Of a sudden I realized that he was in the grip of some almost overpowering fear.' Rudyard Kipling is best known for his novels and poetry, but his short stories reveal a far more sinister and macabre side to his imagination. In these three chilling and psychologically penetrating tales, Kipling portrays hauntings, loss, madness, terrible secrets and the darkness that lies within the human heart.


This book includes 'They', Mary Postgate and The Gardener.