Mystified Magistrate: Four Stories

A lively collection demonstrating de Sade's versatility as a short-story writer. His hatred of repressive institutions such as the Church and the legal system, his preoccupation with 'Sapphic' love, and his enjoyment of comedy and melodrama are all in evidence. But it is in the portrayal of his female characters that de Sade is seen at his most unexpectedly modern.