Fairy tales are written both to entertain and to educate. Published in the shadow of the First World War, F. A. Steel’s retellings of forty-one English fairy tales form a classic collection of stories, ranging from the familiar – ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’, ‘Little Red Riding-Hood’ and ‘The Three Little Pigs’ – to the perhaps less well known – ‘The Black Bull of Norroway’, ‘Nix Nought Nothing’ and ‘The Red Ettin’. Originally published in 1918, it reflects the nationalistic concerns of the period. Steel takes the reader on a journey, from Cornwall to Bamburgh Castle via a palace by the sea, as well as high into the sky, where a giant lives. The magical tales in English Fairy Tales are brought to life by one of the best-known illustrators of the time, Arthur Rackham.Designed to appeal to the book lover, the Macmillan Collector’s Library is a series of beautiful gift editions of much loved classic titles. Macmillan Collector’s Library are books to love and treasure.