Tales of Soldiers and Civilians

A Confederate planter stands on a railroad bridge with a rope around his neck, and then the rope breaks. Bierce's most famous story takes 20 minutes to read and has one of the great twist endings in fiction.

Ambrose Bierce

A small boy wanders into the woods playing soldier and meets a line of wounded men crawling away from the battle. A short, brutal story about one of the bloodiest fights of the Civil War, seen through the eyes of a child.

Ambrose Bierce

Two of his best war stories in one volume: a young officer who rides alone toward a hidden enemy, and a Union sentry who has to choose between his duty and his father. Includes an introduction by the writer W. C. Morrow.

Ambrose Bierce

Bierce's own memories of the war, from What I Saw of Shiloh to A Little of Chickamauga and The Crime at Pickett's Mill. Read it next to his stories and you'll see how much of his fiction he lived first.

Ambrose Bierce