Ambrose Bierce

The little boy who goes unwittingly to visit the great battle of Chickamauga may symbolize the entire nation coming to realize the horror it has visited upon itself.

Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce (June 24, 1842 - 1914) was an American short story writer, journalist, poet, and American Civil War veteran. A prolific and versatile writer, Bierce was regarded as one of the most influential journalists in the United States and as a pioneering writer of realist fiction. In late 1913, Bierce, then age 71, Bierce indicated he was travelling to Mexico to gain first-hand experience of the Mexican Revolution. He disappeared and...

The Devil's Dictionary (1906) is a work of satire by Ambrose Bierce. Although he is commonly remembered for his chilling short stories on the experiences of Civil War soldiers, Bierce was recognized in his day as a leading journalist and humorist who spent decades ruffling feathers and drawing laughter with his witty opinion columns, poems, and definitions. Toward the end of his career, he decided to compile these satirical definitions into a book,...

American journalist and satirist Ambrose Bierce is one of the most famous and fascinating figures in all of American literature. He led an adventurous and eventful life, beginning with his birth in a log cabin, to his time as a Civil War soldier, and followed by his career as an author and journalist, to finally his mysterious disappearance during the Mexican Revolution at age 71. Bierce is perhaps best known for his short stories about the American...

Ambrose Bierce's Chickamauga‚ describes the 1863 Civil War battle in Northern Georgia known for bitter fighting and heavy casualties. A child stumbles onto the battlefield and witnesses the horror of heavily wounded combatants retreating and staggering to their death. Dreamlike and surreal, the story contrasts the innocence of the child with the terrible realities of war. As with many Bierce stories, a profound and surprising flourish brings the...

Bierce's Civil War tale Killed At Resaca, describes a reckless but gallant Union officer known for facing the hottest fire of any battle upright and in full uniform. His fellow soldiers wonder at his casual disregard for his own life and safety. When he is finally killed after a demonstration of pure bravery, Confederate and Union soldiers alike carry his body off the field. The answer to his mysterious behavior is a classic Bierce-ian twist.

In Ambrose Bierce's short story One of the Missing, an orderly for the Union Army undertakes a scouting mission. Preparing to fire on a retreating army, the structure in which he is hiding is suddenly destroyed by cannon fire. When he comes to, he realizes he is completely pinned under the rubble. Making matters worse his own gun, primed and ready to fire, is coincidentally pointing at his head. This story, which originally appeared in The San Francisco...

Present at a Hanging, and other Ghost Stories' collects some of Ambrose Bierce's finest tales of the supernatural and eerie side of life. Regarded by his 19th century peers as a master of the English language, his economical yet florid style shines in these compact stories concerning time, war, and impossible events. Mentioned in the same breath as Edgar Allan Poe and H.P. Lovecraft, Bierce is thought to be a master of short horror fiction.

Enjoy the great detectives of the Golden Age of classic mysteries in this second thrilling collection of audio whodunits. Newly recorded for this original anthology, the crimes, criminals, and sleuths depicted here set the standard for decades, and remain as entertaining today as they were when first published.