Historical fiction has long produced many of our best-loved works, from War and Peace to Gone with the Wind, from A Tale of Two Cities to Lonesome Dove. Now veteran anthologists Michael Cox and Jack Adrian have collected fifty years worth of historical short stories, offering entertainment and illumination for general readers and devoted fans.The Oxford Book of Historical Fiction ranges far and wide, bringing together the work of a diverse array of writers. Here Aldous Huxley rubs shoulders with Arthur Conan Doyle, Rafael Sabatini with William Faulkner, and Thomas Hardy with John Buchan. Here are tales of adventure, studied chronicles of lives of the past, tightly plotted stories, and well-informed illustrations of the experience of life in ages long gone. The settings range from Alexander the Great's empire to the American South during the Civil War, from Napoleonic France to Cromwell's England. For serious short story readers or those with a taste for history, The Oxford Book of Historical Stories is a marvelous collection.