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Maugham is one of the most proficient storytellers of the 20th century and is known as the "British Maupassant". His short stories have simple writing style, clear context, vivid characters and ups and downs of plots. This book selects 23 of Maugham's best short stories, presenting the customs and customs of the British overseas colonies a century ago, describing the various life styles in Britain and Europe, revealing the layers of fetters in love, marriage, and family, and coldly analyzing the willful hypocrisy, selfishness, and fragility. After this book was published by our publisher in 2016, it received favorable reviews. This reprint has corrected a few errors in text and style.

"Blade" is one of Maugham's many masterpieces. It mainly tells the story of a World War I pilot named Larry Darrell. In the army, Larry had a very close comrade. In an encounter with the enemy, the comrade died trying to save Larry. His sacrifice caused great stimulation to Larry. After retiring from the army, he gave up the easy material life and wandered around the world like an ascetic, seeking philosophical questions about "evil and misfortune".

"The Tremor of the Leaves" is a classic short story collection by the British novelist William Somerset Maugham. It includes six novels including "Macintosh", "The Fall of Edward Barnard", "Achi", "Pond", "Honolulu" and "Rain". These six novels are all set in the South Pacific island as beautiful as the Garden of Eden. As the background of the story, it tells the story of a leader who is not understood, a fiancé who wanders in a foreign land and refuses to look back, a captain who betrays his engagement, a white man who falls in love with a beautiful indigenous girl and dies for her, an indigenous girl who bravely saves her lover, and a man whose faith collapses due to temptation. In particular, the last piece "Rain" is Maugham's famous novel. Whether it is the creation of the plot or the characterization of the characters, it is qualified to be among the best novels in the world.

In 1930, "In Search of Joy" was first published in the form of a serial in Harper's Bazaar. In 1958, Maugham said in an interview that "In Search of Joy" was his most proud and favorite novel. Through the description of these characters in "Happiness", Maugham revealed all kinds of bizarre, ridiculous and despicable phenomena in the British literary world at that time. In this novel, Maugham achieved the artistic perfection of writing. Margaret Drabble, a contemporary British writer and literary critic, regarded "In Search of Joy" as Maugham's most brilliant work. Maugham changed the prejudice against women in his previous works and recalled the life of a beautiful woman as an admirer, embellished with many anecdotes from the literary and artistic circles. He draws materials from reality, blends fiction with fact, and uses the narrator Ashenden to narrate his early interactions with the famous writer Driffield and his ex-wife Rosie. This past event is the biographical subject that another popular novelist Keir wants to explore, and the story begins. Deep in Ashenden's memory, we find that the charming Rosie, although romantic and merciless by nature, is still kind, frank and lovely...