A Companion to the British and Irish Short Story chronicles the development of this important literary form in Britain and Ireland from 1880 to the present. Part I covers the years up to 1945 and examines the short fiction that emerged around such themes as imperial adventures, responses to war, and detective and crime stories. Authors covered in this period include Robert Louis Stevenson, James Joyce, Liam O'Flaherty, and Elizabeth Bowen. Part II reflects the range of themes, and richer diversity of authorship, that developed during the postwar years, including feminist writings, gay and lesbian fiction, science fiction, fantasy, and short stories by Asian and Afro-Caribbean writers. Doris Lessing, Angela Carter, Hanif Kureishi, J.G. Ballard, and Ben Okri, are just some of the authors discussed in these chapters.

Incorporating a wide range of approaches, A Companion to the British and Irish Short Story captures the astonishing range of modern short fiction produced in Britain and Ireland from the end of the nineteenth century.