bash command line editing?

I seem to recall being able to select the contents of a command line by holding down the shift key, and using left and right arrow keys. Is/was that a bash feature? How do I enable it? Also, recently I've noticed I'm losing the last command in my history quite often. Especially if it fails. I don't believe that is the way bash used to function. Has something changed? How to I prevent this from happening? STH