该系列图书精选自中国古代经典小说名著，为方便外国读者理解，专门请有关专家对原著进行缩写改编，内容涵盖原著中有代表性的情节和故事，通过这些可读性强的故事传达出其中蕴含的中国传统文化精髓，吸引国外读者的阅读和探究兴趣，出版后特别受到国外读者喜爱。

《水浒传》是我国明代长篇小说的一部杰作。它不是作者凭空杜撰的，而是以北宋宣和年间宋江率众造反起义的历史事件为素材，并广泛吸收了宋、元间街谈巷议和说书人、杂剧表演依据的“梁山泊故事”。小说描写了水泊梁山一百单八将反抗官军、杀富济贫的故事。本书是针对外国读者的改编故事版。

Outlaws of the Marsh, One of the best known and best loved of the ancient Chinese novels which have come down through the ages, written in the fourteenth century, is a fictional account of twelfth-century events in the final years of Hui Zong, a Song Dynasty emperor who reigned from 1101 to 1125. It tells why and how one hundred some-old men and women are forced by the harsh feudal officialdom and banded together on a marsh-girt mountain, became leaders of an outlaw army of thousands and fought brave and resourceful battles against pompous, heartless tyrants.