FIFTY FAMOUS PEOPLE

A BOOK OF SHORT STORIES

BY JAMES BALDWIN





PREFATORY NOTE



One of the best things to be said of the stories in this volume is
that, although they are not biographical, they are about real persons
who actually lived and performed their parts in the great drama of the
world's history. Some of these persons were more famous than others,
yet all have left enduring "footprints on the sands of time" and their
names will not cease to be remembered. In each of the stories there
is a basis of truth and an ethical lesson which cannot fail to have
a wholesome influence; and each possesses elements of interest which,
it is believed, will go far towards proving the fallibility of the
doctrine that children find delight only in tales of the imaginative
and unreal. The fact that there are a few more than fifty famous people
mentioned in the volume may be credited to the author's wish to give
good measure.