We have all been enchanted, enthralled and even terrified by fairy tales, and no child is brought up without learning the story of Cinderella or Little Red Riding Hood. The most popular tales have long histories, over which successive editors have not only shortened and sentimentalized them but also slanted them according to the demands of time. In this book, 24 of the best-known tales are given in their original form, either as they were first printed in English, or in their earliest surviving text. Each tale has a historical introduction, showing the development of the story and noting particular points of interest. Was Cinderella's shoe really a glass slipper or was it made of fur? Was Little Red Riding Hood devoured by the wolf, or was she saved. How did the old woman in Southey's version of The Three Bears become the Goldilocks we know today? In a general introduction, Iona and Peter Opie look at the realism as well as the enchantment in the tales, and put into perspective the contributions of Perrault, the Grimm brothers and Hans Christian Andersen. The book contains 150 illustrations by famous illustrators such as Walter Crane, George Cruikshank, Gustave Dore, Kate Greenaway, Arthur Rackham, W.Heath Robinson and Rex Whistler.