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