Controversies over the merits of favorite short stories are endless.  Everyone can argue at length over his own preferences.  The tales selected for this volume represent the most notable works of five English and seven American masters of the short-story form:  Joseph Conrad, JohnGalsworthy, D.H.Lawrence, Katherine Mansfield, W. Somerset Maugham, Ernest Hemingway, Willa Cather, Sherwood Anderson, Ring Lardner, William Faulkner, Pearl S. Buck and John Steinbeck.