<p>George MacDonald (1824-1905), the great nineteenth-century innovator of modern fantasy, influenced not only C. S. Lewis but also such literary masters as Charles Williams and J. R. R. Tolkien. Though his longer fairy tales <em>Lilith</em> and <em>Phantastes</em> are particularly famous, much of MacDonald&#39;s best fantasy writing is found in his shorter stories. In this volume editor Glenn Sadler has compiled some of MacDonald&#39;s finest short works--marvelous fairy tales and stories certain to delight readers familiar with MacDonald and those about to meet him for the first time.</p>