Commonly acknowledged as one of the greatest writers of short fiction of all time, it is Chekhov's ability to interweave the Russian countryside - the hills, the trees and the natural environment - into the fabric of his prose which gives his work its timeless quality. Chekhov's stories faithfully mirror the real world; they never give into the temptation of pat resolutions, but remain open ended, leaving the reader free to imagine an infinity of possibilities. This adherence to realism is starkly illustrated by the stories collected in this volume, among which Bet, The Lottery ticket, Lady with the Lapdog and Love are particularly noteworthy.