First published in 1890, "The Red Fairy Book" is the second in a series of collections of fairy tales from around the world edited by Andrew Lang, the Scottish novelist, poet and literary critic, with translations and retellings by his wife, Leonora Blanche Alleyne, and others. Lang and Alleyne would go on to publish popular collections of fairy tales and poetry for over twenty years. Lang and Alleyne achieved great commercial success with "The Blue Fairy Book", the first in the series, published in 1889. Each book was named after a color and they contained the most famous and recognizable fairy tales from all over the world. The collections published by Lang and Alleyne put these memorable and universally appealing tales into single volumes and made them accessible to generations of children and parents. In "The Red Fairy Book", timeless tales from Russian, French, Danish, Romanian, and Norse traditions are included. Readers of all ages will enjoy such classics as "The Twelve Dancing Princesses", "Jack and the Beanstalk", "Rapunzel", "The Golden Goose", "The True History of Little Goldenhood", and dozens more entertaining and timeless tales. This edition includes a biographical afterword.