Timeless in its evocation of idealized family life and robustly enduring, Little Women is recognized as one of the best-loved classic children's stories of all time. Originally written as a "girls" story, its appeal transcends the boundaries of time and age, making it as popular with adults as it is with young readers. For this is a beguiling story of happiness and hope, of the joys of companionship, domestic harmony and infinite mother love, all seen through the life of the March family. But which of the four March sisters to love best? For every reader must have their favorite. Independent, tomboyish Jo; delicate, loving Beth; pretty, kind Meg, or precocious and beautiful Amy, the baby of the family? Little Women was an instant success when first published in 1868, and followed only a year later by the sequel, Little Wives.

Louisa May Alcott was born in Pennsylvania in 1832, the second of four daughters of the philosopher Bronson Alcott. She was educated at home and went on to become a schoolteacher in Boston. Her first book Flower Fables (which she wrote when she was sixteen) was published when she was twenty-two, but she interrupted her career as a writer to nurse soldiers at a Washington hospital during the civil war. Her most enduring book, Little Women, was published in 1868 and was an instant success. Other books include Little Men and Jo's Boys. Louisa May Alcott died in 1988 at the age of fifty-six.

The handsome volumes in The Collectors Library present great works of world literature in a handy hardback format. Printed on high-quality paper and bound in real cloth, each complete and unabridged volume has a specially commissioned afterword, brief biography of the author and a further-reading list. This easily accessible series offers readers the perfect opportunity to discover, or rediscover, some of the world's most endearing literary works.

The volumes in The Collector's Library are sumptuously produced, enduring editions to own, to collect and to treasure.