Hector Hugh Munro (1870-1916) was a British author best known by his pen name Saki. Although he wrote two novels and several political sketches - most notably The Westminster Alice, a parody authorized by Carroll's publishers - it is his large output of satirical short stories for which he is remembered, and is still considered one of the masters of the genre.

'Tobermory' - the title story of this collection - is widely considered one of Saki's finest pieces, in which a short-sighted dinner-party guest introduces a talking cat to the diners, inadvertently revealing gossip and pushing fickle characters into the limelight - in the process undermining the common perceptions of grandiose and genteel high society.

From some of his earliest successes, such as 'Gabriel-Ernest', 'The Bag' and the Clovis stories, about a young man with an impish sense of humour, to later tales such as 'The Boar-Pig', which is as bizarre as it is hilarious, and 'The Toys of Peace', which he was never able to see in print, this selection contains a wealth of well-known tales with vastly different themes - from reincarnation to psychological warfare - and bearing every trademark token of wit with which Saki has enthralled generations of eager readers.

If only Saki. were still alive. The age of Trump needs his brutal dismantling of human stupidities.

Start a Saki story and you will finish it. Finish one and you will start another, and having finished them all you will never forget them. They remain an addiction because they are so much more than funny.

A master in his genre.