Book excerpt: Since ancient times the Amber Road has been a trade route for the transfer of amber from coastal areas of the North Sea and the Baltic Sea to the Mediterranean Sea and ports beyond. We invite you to journey along the Amber Road from Russia through Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria and Slovenia to Italy and sample twenty folk tales and stories to be found enroute. This book contains but a sliver of the rich tapestry that is European folklore. Herein you will find perennial favourites like BABA YAGA AND THE LITTLE GIRL WITH THE KIND HEART, THE FROG PRINCESS and THE PIED PIPER OF HAMELIN. Also included are less well known tales like THE AMBER WIZARD, THE GOLD AXE, MANNIKIN LONG BEARD, THE NIXY, VITAZKO THE VICTORIOUS, THE GLUNKEZER GIANT, BEAUTY AND THE HORNS and THE MYRTLE and many more. The PIED PIPER of HAMELIN is supported by two poems by Robert Browning. The allegorical nature of this story is also brought to light. More than a few of these tales and stories have been collected and translated by Parker Fillmore who between 1907 and 1922 specialised in collecting and publishing eastern European forlklore. Teamed with Czech born illustrator, Jan Matulka, no less than seventeen volumes of Czech, Slovakian, Moravian and Finnish folklore were produced. So, find a comfy chair, sit back and enjoy the twenty authentic stories in this unique volume.