About This Book

Kipling's own India-based ghost stories and tales of terror, this collection includes not only "The Phantom Rickshaw," but also "The Man Who Would Be King".

About Rudyard Kipling

(1865-1936) The British author and poet, Rudyard Kipling, was born in Bombay, India, to British parents. His father was both an artist and a scholar and was for many years the curator of the Lahore Museum there. The description of the Keeper of the Wonder House in the opening chapter of Kim is a description of — and a tribute to — his father.

Sent to boarding schools in England when he was a young boy, Kipling — shy and nearsighted — was desperately unhappy. But in later years several of his most famous narratives and stories are based upon those youthful experiences.

In 1882, Kipling returned to India, where he worked as a journalist, polishing his writing skills. During that time he published "Departmental Ditties" (1886) and "Plain Tales from the Hills" (1887) and several volumes of short stories based on his observations of the rich pageant of life in India. By the time he returned to England in 1889, and published "Barrack-Room Ballads" (1892) he was famous.

Kipling married an American and lived for a short time in Vermont before returning to England permanently. He also spent time in South Africa. In 1907, he won the Nobel prize for Literature, and he twice declined the Order of Merit, the highest honor that can be conferred on a British subject.

Despite the honors and fame that were given him during his life, the intensity of Kipling's fame faded during the 20th century. He is best remembered now for his splendid children's books: "The Jungle Books," "The Just-So Stories," and "Kim," although the latter is really an adult book. For adults, many of his short stories and his magnificent "Indian Tales," still make thrilling reading, and some of his poems, such as "Recessional," are also widely read and enjoyed.