The Great English Short-story Writers by W. J. Dawson

This volume presents a curated history of the English short story, pairing critical essays with landmark tales by writers such as Defoe, Irving, Hawthorne, Poe, Dickens, Twain, Hardy, James, and Stevenson. Its opening argument is bold: the short story's deepest power lies not in ornament, but in action, plot, and the concentrated dramatic idea that can be traced back to campfire tales, biblical parables, and Eastern oral storytelling. From there, the discussion follows how old narratives are endlessly remade. The medieval Gesta Romanorum appears as a major source of borrowed plots, yet also as a warning against fiction that becomes too moralized or artificial. Against that, Shakespeare is praised for stripping older tales down to their essential human core and transforming them into living drama. Poe's principles of brevity, single effect, compression, verisimilitude, and finality sharpen the case for short fiction as a form of intensity, especially when linked to the unity of poetry and the ballad. The volume also includes a lively comic narrative of runaway children and the servant who helps them, balancing literary criticism with affectionate storytelling and showing how enduring fiction turns simple incidents into memorable art. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.