Ambrose Bierce's Civil War [Paperback]

Ambrose Bierce (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 25, 1956

A collection of vibrant, horrifying, and sardonic stories and reminiscences about the American Civil War by soldier, journalist, and cynic Ambrose Bierce.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

This powerful collection contains the very best of this world-renowned author's writings. All of the short stories and factual accounts of the Civil War presented here form a searing, unflinching portrait of this terrible war. For fiction and non-fiction fans and history buffs alike. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 258 pages
• Publisher: Gateway Editions (January 25, 1956)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0895267160
• ISBN-13: 978-0895267160
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,777,045 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Graphic Violence of War With Twists At The End, December 30, 2000

By 

Howard L. Dixon (Hopewell, VA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Ambrose Bierce's Civil War (Hardcover)

I read this book when I was doing research about one of the taboos of warfare. That was the discussion of the Coup De Grace of a fellow soldier. During my research I found that virtually no one had ever written (either in books or screenplays) about this with the exception of Bierce. It is an interesting paradox to ask yourself whether you would have the capability to put a friend out of their misery rather than let them suffer if you knew that help was not available. In fact, Bierce's short story is entitled, "The Coup De Grace". You'll find it and 27 others in this volume. The most famous is, "An Occurrence At Owl Creek". A story that was made into a short film and was the Short Subject winner of the Cannes Film Festival in 1962, and earned an Academy Award in 1964 as best Foreign Film.

All of the stories you find in this book are told with the tight, economical style of Bierce and many have an O'Henry or Sterling twist at the end. They are told in the frank and bloody prose that Bierce witnessed (and physically experienced) first hand as an Officer in the Union Army. As one reads these stories you can clearly see the basis for Bierce's caustic and acidulous writing style that stayed with him throughout his life including as a columnist for William Randolph Hearst at the San Francisco Examiner and until he walked away into the Mexican desert in 1913. His demise is the source of great conjecture (as he would have wanted it) but that is for other books about the man and his writing.

20 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best kept secret in American literature:, May 7, 1998

By 

Scott A. MacPhee [e-mail] (Moscow, Idaho) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ambrose Bierce's Civil War (Hardcover)

Ambrose Bierce, a soldier in the Civil War, focused on the war in many of his short stories, which are truly phenominal. With the surreal and supernatural sensibilities of Poe and ironic endings worthy of O. Henry, Bierce deserves a place among our most treasured authors.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Descriptive Civil War Stories, December 3, 2005

By 

Sam Maher "Sam Maher" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ambrose Bierce's Civil War (Hardcover)

Ambrose Bierce's Civil War has everything you could ask for from a non-fiction, storytelling book about the Civil War. It is filled will all sorts of war memoirs and stories from his experiences and experiences of others throughout the Civil War. There are gruesome explanations of brains oozing out of a head in the war memoir "What I Saw at Shiloh," dead bodies covering the ground and endless thunderstorms. Alongside these dismal recounts of the Civil War, there are also stories of loyalty, family and courage. This contrast of the positives and negatives in the war makes this book very interesting. One page it will be raining and there are dead bodies on the ground. The next page is filled with sunlight and untouched and uninhabited forests. My favorite story would have to be "What I Saw at Shiloh," but there are several that are very good. All of them are extremely descriptive, too. No details are left out. Anyone who stays tuned to all of Grandpas old war stories would definitely like this book. It is filled with enough non-fictional material to keep you on edge for quite some time.