The Gifts And Other Stories

Sixteen captivating stories by one of America's most popular storytellers. Included are such classics as "The Gift of the Magi," "The Last Leaf," and "The Ransom of Red Chief."

"The Gift of the Magi" is a short story by O. Henry first published in 1905. The story tells of a young husband and wife and how they deal with the challenge of buying secret Christmas gifts for each other with very little money. As a sentimental story with a moral lesson about gift-giving, it has been popular for adaptation, especially for presentation at Christmas time.

Stories of mystery, surprise and adventures from all around the world, by O. Henry, H G Wells, Guy de Maupassant and other well-known writers.

It's Christmas Even morning. Years ago a man abandoned his son to pursue professional success; now he wonders if it's too late to forge a relationship with him. One week earlier, in a hospital late at night, the man met a five-year-old girl with cancer. When the man is given the chance to do something selfless that could change the destiny of the little girl in the hospital bed, he needs to find out what his own life has actually been worth in the eyes of his son before he makes the deal of a lifetime.

By chance, Olivia Spenser-Graf and Sadie Hunt turned onto Route 33, thinking the autumn foliage too spectacular to bypass. A year later bibliophile Olivia would be telling customers that it had been their Robert Frost moment, "except ours was the road taken that brought us here." Only a few miles up that road they pulled into a weedy parking area, drawn to the boarded-up one-room schoolhouse that, within a year, would be renovated and opened as Stacks and Snacks, a bookshop and natural foods eatery. In eighteen stories, some touching, some raucous, Eric Selby examines redemption, grace, family, and community dysfunction through the lives of small-town people living in Gilead County, Vermont. His unforgettable characters include a beloved old-time barber, a cast of frustrated teachers and students, a family whose farm has to be sold, religious nuts, a retired out-of-state couple with long-held hostilities, and a hymn-singing child who confuses hosanna with Obama. As people in the county grapple with their problems, Sadie and Olivia find themselves woven into most of their lives. A Gift of Maple Syrup and Other Stories offers insights into the human condition. These stories celebrate the endurance of the human spirit.

Siraj-ud-Daula, the Nawab of Bengal was neither coward nor afraid of wars. He routed the British army from Calcutta within four days. After that could he defend the State of Bengal in spite of his so many enemies because of his cruelty and profligacy? What caused his downfall? Was it profligacy or cruelty & who and how they conspired against him to take their revenge was a quite intrigue? It is an interesting historical story which one must read along with other interesting and inspiring stories.