(Foreword, Afterword by Karl Edward Wagner)
Beyond the Black River
Shadows in Zamboula
Red Nails
The Hyborian Age (essay by Howard)

The 3 stories originally appeared in Weird Tales, from 1935 to 1936 (the first and last as 2 or 3-part serials.) These are novelet/novella length Conan stories. Wagner's long intro explains how/why these versions were prepared from photocopies of Weird Tales text - to be sure these had no revisions, collaborations, or pastiches (which were prevalent in previous Conan books.) His long afterword gives an overview of the Conan series and problems encounterd by Howard during their publication.