Ambrose Bierce's Civil War
By: Ambrose Bierce ; edited and with an introduction by William McCann.
Contributors: McCann, William.
Publisher: Wings Books
Published: 1996
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 258
ISBN-13: 9780517150139
Copyright date: 1956
Subjects: War stories, American.; United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Fiction.; United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Personal narratives.
Other titles: Civil War
Description: One-and-a-half centuries after the conflict's end, and some eighty years after his mysterious disappearance, Ambrose Bierce is recognized as one of the greatest chroniclers of the Civil War. He is one of the few writers of the era who actually fought in the war, who participated in its daily routines and experienced the senseless confusion, the terror, and the blood-letting of battle. As such, his crisply evocative first-hand accounts--both fictional and nonfictional--of life and death on the firing line set the standard for historical accuracy as well as dramatic power.

William McCann has sifted through Ambrose Bierce's vast literary opus to present a collection of his most outstanding stories of the Civil War: seven selections from the author's memoirs and twenty works of fiction in all.

From the minute-by-minute- heartbeat-by-heartbeat recreation of combat in "What I Saw of Shiloh" to the graphic realism and tragedy of such stories as "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge," Biere's craftsmanship--the intensity of his vision, the precision of his prose--is evident throughout.

Whether you're a history enthusiast, Civil War buff, or simply a lover of good, tough, evocative writing, Ambrose Bierce's Civil War is your opportunity to discover some of the grittiest and most vivid depictions of battle on record. 
--jacket flap
Table of contents: title: On a mountain --; title: What I saw of Shiloh --; title: A little of Chickamauga --; title: The crime at Pickett's Mill --; title: Four days in Dixie --; title: What occurred at Franklin --; title: A bivouac of the dead ;; title: A horseman in the sky --; title: An occurrence at Owl Creek bridge --; title: Chickamauga --; title: A son of the gods --; title: One of the missing --; title: Killed at Resaca --; title: The affair at Coulter's Notch --; title: The coup de grace --; title: Parker Adderson, philosopher --; title: An affair of outposts --; title: The story of a conscience --; title: One kind of officer --; title: One officer, one man --; title: George Thurston --; title: The mocking-bird --; title: Three and one are one --; title: A baffled ambuscade --; title: Two military executions --; title: A resumed identity --; title: Jupiter Doke, brigadier-general.