Hector Hugh Munro (1870–1916), known by his nom de plume, Saki, whose humorous writings are amongst the best known in the English literary canon, is widely considered to be a master of the short-story genre. Although he also wrote longer works of fiction, they are not nearly as popular as his short stories – ‘Tobermory’, ‘The Schartz-Metterklume Method’, ‘The Open Window’, ‘The Storyteller’, ‘The Lumber Room’ and ‘Sredni Vashtar’, in particular, enjoy a widespread readership even today. Saki also wrote extensively for the Westminster Gazette, where he published political sketches such as the Westminster Alice series. Saki’s death is almost as famous as his short stories – he was a lance sergeant in the First World War, and he was killed by a German sniper during the Battle of the Ancre while he and his company sheltered; his last words were reportedly: ‘Put that bloody cigarette out!’

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• The Westminster Alice: Introduction, Alice in Downing Street, Alice in Pall Mall, Alice at Lambeth, Alice and the Liberal Party, Alice Anywhere but in Downing Street, Alice in Difficulties, Alice at St Stephen’s, Alice Lunches at Westminster, Alice in a Fog, Alice Has Tea at the Hotel Cecil, Alice Goes to Chesterfield, The Aged Man, Spades in Wonderland, Note on the Text, Notes, A Brief Biographical Note on Saki