This little book is the 1965 sequel to Swords and Sorcery, put together by de Camp, with a similar (almost) all-star lineup of "heroic fantasy" stories and while it may not be new to anyone today, it certainly was in 1965. The only reason I say not quite as good is that the introductions are not as focused on the authors, but rather on the worlds they created - to an extent this may be because of the repeat appearances by some writers, but clearly the blurbs are not as good and thoughtful as they were in S&S (and, of course, the introduction to Robert E Howard's Conan story is particularly graceless).
Before I list the contents, I should point out that (for instance) this was published before the Conan series was reprinted by Ace and Lancer, and there had only been a 4-volume collection by Gnome Press in the early 50's since the 1930's publication in Weird Tales. Leigh Brackett could call her hero in "Lorelei of the Red Mist" Conan as a in-joke/homage and get away with it in the mid-40's: reading the story today that is an impediment to immersing yourself in it. Not all the stories collected here now have Conan's level of fame, but its quite a list: Bazaar of the Bizarre is one of the best Fafhrd and Gray Mouser entries, Elric shows up, and Jack Vance gets to show off Mazirian the Magician. The full TOC:
"Bazaar of the Bizarre" - Fritz Leiber
"The Dark Eidolon" - Clark Ashton Smith
"The Hoard of the Gibbelins" - Lord Dunsany
"The Hungry Hercynian" - L. Sprague de Camp
"Kings in Darkness" - Michael Moorcock
"Mazirian the Magician" - Jack Vance
"Shadows in Zamboula" - Robert E. Howard
Each story has introductory artwork by Virgil Finlay, which is almost worth the price of admission alone.
Really, you can't go wrong with any of that. This was the second of four anthologies in the series, and with two down, I can say they both belong on a modern bookshelf.
