Tales of Soldiers and Civilians is a collection of short stories written by Ambrose Bierce. Published in 1891, the 26 stories detail the lives of soldiers and civilians during the American Civil War. His famous story "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" is included in this collection.In the preface to the first edition, Bierce maintained that the book had been "denied existence by the chief publishing houses of the country." He credited the eventual publication of the book to his friend, Mr. E. L. G. Steele, a merchant from San Francisco, who was listed with the 1891 copyright.[3] In 1898, Tales was republished along with other stories by G.P. Putnam's Sons under the title In the Midst of Life.[1] George Sterling, in the introduction to a later (1927) edition, noted that as a result of "obtuse critics and a benighted public," the book failed to become the sensation Bierce had expected

Tales of Soldiers and Civilians is a collection of short stories written by Ambrose Bierce. Published in 1891, the 26 stories detail the lives of soldiers and civilians during the American Civil War. His famous story "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" is included in this collection.

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Tales of Soldiers and Civilians is a collection of short stories written by Ambrose Bierce. Published in 1891, the 26 stories detail the lives of soldiers and civilians during the American Civil War. His famous story "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" is included in this collection.In the preface to the first edition, Bierce maintained that the book had been "denied existence by the chief publishing houses of the country." He credited the eventual publication of the book to his friend, Mr. E. L. G. Steele, a merchant from San Francisco, who was listed with the 1891 copyright.[3] In 1898, Tales was republished along with other stories by G.P. Putnam's Sons under the title In the Midst of Life.George Sterling, in the introduction to a later (1927) edition, noted that as a result of "obtuse critics and a benighted public," the book failed to become the sensation Bierce had expected. The original publication contained nineteen stories, while those in later publications increased in number; 1898 to 22, and 1909 to 26.The original nineteen stories were retained in the 1898 publication, but were not entirely collectively retained in the 1909 edition.Four of these were transferred by Bierce into his collection Collected Works, Can Such Things Be?In a similar fashion, Bierce moved eight stories into the 1909 version of In the Midst of Life from the 1893 edition of Can Such Things Be?Sixteen of the original stories were initially published in the San Francisco Examiner... Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce (June 24, 1842 - circa 1914) was an American editorialist, journalist, short story writer, fabulist, and satirist. He wrote the short story "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" and compiled a satirical lexicon, The Devil's Dictionary. His vehemence as a critic, his motto "Nothing matters," and the sardonic view of human nature that informed his work, all earned him the nickname "Bitter Bierce." Despite his reputation as a searing critic, Bierce was known to encourage younger writers, including the poets George Sterling and Herman George Scheffauer and the fiction writer W. C. Morrow. Bierce employed a distinctive style of writing, especially in his stories. His style often embraces an abrupt beginning, dark imagery, vague references to time, limited descriptions, impossible events, and the theme of war. In 1913, Bierce traveled to Mexico to gain first-hand experience of the Mexican Revolution. He was rumored to be traveling with rebel troops, and was not seen again.

Questing after Pancho Villa's revolutionary forces, Ambrose Bierce rode into Mexico in 1913 and was never seen again. He left behind him theDevil's Dictionary and a remarkable body of short fiction. This new collection gathers some of Bierce's finest stories, including the celebrated Civil War fictions 'An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge' and 'Chickamauga', his macabre masterpieces, and his tales of supernatural horror. Reminiscent of Poe, these stories are marked by a sardonic humour and a realistic study of tense emotional states. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

This revised edition of Ambrose Bierce's 1892 collection of "Soldiers" and "Civilians" tales fills a void in American literature. A veteran of the Civil War and a journalist known for his integrity and biting satire, Ambrose Bierce was also a lively short-story writer of considerable depth and power. As San Francisco's most famous journalist during the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries, Bierce was hired by William Randolph Hearst to write a column for San Francisco Examiner, where his "Soldiers" and "Civilians" tales first appeared during the late 1880s. By the standards of his day and ours, Bierce's journalism was often brilliantly insightful, viciously libelous, petty, and grand, frequently in the space of a single paragraph. This edition reveals the often compelling artistry of Bierce's original versions of the tales and the intentionally intricate design and scope of the original collection.