The Most Dangerous Game

After falling overboard from a yacht, Sanger Rainsford swims to a nearby island. There General Zaroff, a big-game hunter who knows of Rainsford from published accounts of his hunting snow leopards in Tibet, invites him to dinner. Zaroff is bored of hunting because it no longer challenges him; he has moved to Ship-Trap Island in order to capture shipwrecked sailors. Any captives who can elude Zaroff, his manservant Ivan, and a pack of hunting dogs for three days is set free.
No one has yet lasted that long, although a couple of sailors had come close. Zaroff offers sailors a choice-should they decline to be hunted, they will be handed over to Ivan, who had once been official knouter for The Great White Czar. Rainsford denounces this as barbarism, but has no way out. He reluctantly agrees to be hunted...
Includes a new introduction and illustrated filmography.

Richard Connell (1893-1949) was an American author and journalist best known for his short story The Most Dangerous Game. Born in New York and educated at Harvard University, Connell worked as a newspaper editor and screenwriter before achieving lasting fame with this widely anthologized tale of suspense. His writing combined sharp pacing with memorable storytelling, and The Most Dangerous Game remains one of the most frequently taught and adapted short stories in modern literature.