"Toldees, Mondath, Arizim, these are the Inner Lands, the lands whose sentinels upon their borders do not behold the sea. Beyond them to the east there lies a desert, for ever untroubled by man: all yellow it is, and spotted with shadows of stones, and Death is in it, like a leopard lying in the sun . . ." So begins "Poltarnees, Beholder of Ocean," Lord Dunsany's celebrated story about the enchantment of the sea over young men. This collection of sixteen stories, including "Idle Days on the Yann," "Bethmoora," and "In Zaccarath," contains Dunsany's finest writing. Dunsany is considered the precursor of modern fantasy. His style influenced, among others, H.P. Lovecraft, Michael Moorcock, Arthur C. Clarke, and Ursula K. Le Guin.