Hector Hugh Munro, better known by the pen name Saki, was born in Akyab, Burma, was a British writer, whose witty and sometimes macabre stories satirized Edwardian society and culture. He is considered a master of the short story and is often compared to O. Henry and Dorothy Parker. Munro was the son of an officer in the Burma police. At the age of two, he was sent to live with his aunts near Barnstaple, Devon, England. He later took revenge on their strictness and lack of understanding by portraying tyrannical aunts in many of his stories about children. He was educated at Exmouth and at Bedford grammar school, and in 1893 he joined the Burma police but was invalided out. Turning to journalism, he wrote political satires for the Westminster Gazette and in 1900 published The Rise of the Russian Empire, a serious historical work. He is considered a master of the short story. Reginald in Russia appeared in 1910, and The Chronicles of Clovis was published in 1911, and Beasts and Super-Beasts in 1914, along with many other short stories that appeared in newspapers not published in collections in his lifetime. Munro died in France during World War I, on November 13, 1916, by German sniper fire during the Battle of Ancre. Though he was too old to enlist at 43, he had managed to gain a post in the 22nd Battalion of the Royal Fusiliers, where he was a lance-sergeant. According to several sources, his last words were "Put that bloody cigarette out!" You can listen online to free English audiobook “Unkindest Blow” by Saki on our website.
