The Wheel Publication 

The Samyutta Nikaaya is one of the five great divisions of the Sutta Pitaka of the Paali canon, the Tipitaka or "Three Baskets" of doctrine, constituting the Buddha-word for Theravaada Buddhism. The meaning of "Samyutta Nikaaya" is "The Collection of Grouped Discourses" and it is so called because its material is arranged into groups (samyuttas) according to subject, of which there are fifty-six. These again are placed into five vaggas, sections or chapters, corresponding to the five divisions of this anthology. In the Paali Text Society's complete edition (under the title Kindred Sayings) the whole work is contained in five volumes, covering over 1,650 pages, so it will be realized that this anthology is a very small selection indeed of the complete Samyutta Nikaaya.

The present anthology differs from others that have appeared in that it is not arranged in any special order, merely following the order of the text itself, and that it is confined to just one part of the Paali Tipitaka. As regards the choice of material, an attempt was made to make it as representative as possible of the whole collection, but personal preference could not be ignored. Choice tended to fall upon the more striking discourses, the avoidance of passages that were too repetitive and the inclusion of those that contained similes and parables, so profoundly illuminating and easily remembered.

(Book introduction, obtained from Access To Insight)