This is the last collection of short stories written by the witty British author, Hector Hugh Munro, better known by his pen names "Saki" or "H. H. Munro", compiled posthumously by his friend, Rothay Reynolds.

The title story is a humorous tale of trying to indoctrinate young boys with a culture of peace rather than war, by a mother and her brother, Harvey, who give her boys "peace toys" for Easter instead of toy guns, tin soldiers, and the like. 

Excerpt:

"A quantity of crinkly paper shavings was the first thing that met the view when the lid was removed; the most exiting toys always began like that. Harvey pushed back the top layer and drew forth a square, rather featureless building.

"'It’s a fort!' exclaimed Bertie. ...

"'It’s a municipal dust-bin,' said Harvey hurriedly; 'you see all the refuse and litter of a town is collected there, instead of lying about and injuring the health of the citizens.'"

The boys were not impressed by such gifts as tin statues of economists, scientists, sanitary inspectors, and politicians, rather than soldiers and heroes; models of municipal buildings rather than forts; toy hoes instead of toy guns. Left to play with the new politically correct toys, the boys manage to completely thwart the plan, to the frustration of the well-meaning adults.

There are 33 stories in all, plus an introduction about the life of the author written by Rothay Reynolds.

Hector Hugh Munro

(18 December 1870 – 14 November 1916), better known by the

pen name

Saki

, and also frequently as

H. H. Munro

, was a British writer whose witty, mischievous and sometimes

macabre

stories satirize

Edwardian

society and culture. He is considered a master of the

short story

, and often compared to

O. Henry

 and

Dorothy Parker

. Influenced by

Oscar Wilde

,

Lewis Carroll

and

Rudyard Kipling

, he himself influenced

A. A. Milne

,

Noël Coward

and

P. G. Wodehouse

.

Besides his short stories (which were first published in newspapers, as was customary at the time, and then collected into several volumes), he wrote a full-length play,



The Watched Pot



, in collaboration with Charles Maude; two one-act plays; a historical study,

The Rise of the Russian Empire

, the only book published under his own name; a short novel,

The Unbearable Bassington

; the

episodic



The Westminster Alice



(a

parliamentary

parody of



Alice in Wonderland



); and



When William Came



, subtitled



A Story of London Under the

Hohenzollerns



, a fantasy about a

future German invasion

and occupation of Britain.