This volume contains two unusual and appealing satirical works by the well-known European philosopher Kolakowski. The first, Tales from the Kingdom of Lailonia, is set in a fictional land. Each story illustrates some aspect of human inability to come to terms with imperfection, infinitude, history, and nature. The second, The Key to Heaven, is a collection of seventeen biblical tales from the Old Testament told in such a way that the story and the moral play off each other to illustrate political, moral, or existential foibles and follies.

Leszek Kolakowski (1927-2009) was professor of philosophy at the University of Warsaw until the Polish political crisis of March 1968 when he was formally expelled. Hethen moved to universities inNorth America and the United Kingdom.From 1981 to 1994 he was a professor in the Committee on Social Thought andthe department of philosophy at the University of Chicago. He is best known for his critical analyses of Marxist thought, especially his three-volume history, "Main Currents of Marxism" (1976). In his later work, he increasingly focused on philosophical and religious questions. He was the author of numerous books.