The short story is often viewed as an inferior relation to the Novel. But it is an art in itself. To take a story and distil its essence into fewer pages while keeping character and plot rounded and driven is not an easy task. Many try and many fail. In this series we look at short stories from many of our most accomplished writers. Miniature masterpieces with a lot to say. In this volume we examine some of the short stories of William Makepeace Thackeray.The great author of Vanity Fair and The Luck Of Barry Lyndon was born in India in 1811. At age 5 his father died and his mother sent him back to England. His education was of the best but he himself seemed unable to apply his talents to a rigorous work ethic. After a few years of marriage his wife began to suffer from depression and over the years became detached from reality. He himself suffered from ill health later in his life and the one pursuit that kept him moving forward was that of writing and in his life time he was placed second only to Dickens. High praise indeed. In this volume we take some of his shorter works, they are perfect miniatures of the world as he saw it. Many of these stories are also available as an audiobook from our sister company Word Of Mouth. Many samples are at our youtube channel http: //www.youtube.com/user/PortablePoetry?feature=mhee The full volume can be purchased from iTunes, Amazon and other digital stores. They are read for you by Richard Mitchley & Ghizela RoweIndex Of TitlesOn Some Dinners At ParisOn Some Old Customs Of The Dinner Table Mrs. Perkins's Ball The Notch On The Ax

Scorned for her lack of money and breeding, Becky must use all her wit, charm and considerable sex appeal to escape her drab destiny as a governess. From London's ballrooms to the battlefields of Waterloo, the bewitching Becky works her wiles on a gallery of memorable characters, including her lecherous employer, Sir Pitt, his rich sister, Miss Crawley, and Pitt's dashing son, Rawdon, the first of Becky's misguided sexual entanglements.