Saki is the pen name of H. H. Munro, born in 1870 in Burma and educated in England. He began his writing career as a journalist and foreign correspondent but later turned to writing fiction – predominantly short stories for which he is best-remembered – as well as one history book. He was 43 when the First World War started. Although he was beyond the age of conscription, and although he was offered an officer’s commission, Saki joined the army as an ordinary trooper. He was killed in 1916 in France by a German sniper.