Irish writer Edward J. M. D. Plunkett, the eighteenth Baron Dunsany, was one of English literature's most original talents. The author of many of the best fantastic tales in the language, he also greatly influenced other writers working in the genre. This collection of all the stories from two of his finest collections includes the famous "Three Sailors' Gambit," possibly the best chess story ever written, as well as "The Bad Old Woman in Black," "The Watch-Tower," "The Three Infernal Jokes," "The House of the Sphinx," and 28 other literary gems