A collection of European folk tales, nearly all collected from storytellers. The stories are numbered and the sources at the end give the information of each tale by the number.

This is a book to shock folktale specialists.

That's not because there is anything wrong with it. But Stith Thompson earned his reputation -- which is great -- as a result of organizing and classifying folktales; his six volume Motif-Index of Folk-Literature is the standard organizational reference for folktales. Many modern folklore studies are keyed to Thompson numbers. Even some studies that don't use Thompson numbers make excuses for their failure. Thompson influence is everywhere.

Except, ironically, here. The hundred tales here have no scholarly apparatus, no organization, no list of sources, no classification. If you buy it thinking this is a Work By Stith Thompson, you're going to be disappointed.

On the other hand, no one knew the folktales of the world better than Thompson, so no one was better equipped to pick out the best. There are familiar tales here -- and some you probably haven't seen. If all you want is a collection of great old stories, competently translated into English, this is a great place to start.

Just don't start looking for the notes at the back. ( )