Tales of Soldiers & Civilians (The Heritage Press)

xxx, 222 pp. Introduction by Joseph Henry Jackson, illustrations by Paul Landacre. A collection of short stories set during the American Civil War, by the author best known for The Devil's Dictionary, and for his mysterious disappearance in Mexico. Questing after Pancho Villa's revolutionary forces, Ambose Bierce rode into Mexico in 1913 and completely vanished off the face of the earth. Though his ultimate fate remains a mystery to this day, Bierce's contribution to American letter's rests firmly on the basis of his incomparable Devil's Dictionary and a remarkable body of short fiction. This collection gathers some three dozen of Bierce's finest stories, including the celebrated Civil War fictions 'An Occurrence at Owl Creek' and 'Chickamauga,' his macabre masterpieces 'The Damned Thing' and 'Moxon's Master,' and his hilariously horrific 'Oil of Dog' and 'My Favorite Murder.'