Plain Tales from the Hills

Witty, wry, sometimes cynical, sometimes pathetic, the Plain Tales with their brevity and concentration of effect are a landmark in the history of the short story as an art-form.

First published in 1888, Plain Tales from the Hills was Kipling's first volume of prose fiction. Most of the stories it includes had already appeared in the Civil and Military Gazette; all were written before he reached the age of 22; and they show a remarkably precocious literary talent. His vignettes of life in Br...