"This admirably produced and well-translated volume of stories from the
Sanskrit takes the Western reader into one of the Golden Ages of India.
. . . The world in which the tales are set is one which placed a premium
upon slickness and guile as aids to success. . . . Merchants,
aristocrats, Brahmins, thieves and courtesans mingle with vampires,
demi-gods and the hierarchy of heaven in a series of lively or
passionate adventures. The sources of the individual stories are clearly
indicated; the whole treatment is scholarly without being arid."-The
Times Literary Supplement
"Fourteen tales from India, newly translated with a terse and vibrant
effectiveness. These tales will appeal to any reader who enjoys action,
suspense, characterization, and suspension of disbelief in the
supernatural."-The Personalist