Showing results by author "Ambrose Bierce" in All Categories

The eyes of a panther, or the mind of a terrified woman. Which is more powerful? Ambrose Bierce leaves you wondering and thinking in this powerful short story.

Here, a collection of 15 short stories by Ambrose Bierce. Bierce's participation in the Battle of Shiloh forever shaped his writing and his life. The short stories in this audiobook, although fiction, are - for the most part - based on some fact. They stand as a testament to the horror of the American Civil War.

Originally published in 1892 in Tales of Soldiers and Civilians, "A Lady from Redhorse" is Ambrose Bierce at his best. Mary Jane Dement, daughter of Calamity Jim, grew up in the gold mines where Jim hit it big, and Mary Jane is a millionaire with few prospects for true romance. In her letters to her friend Irene, we learn how love can happen.

A deserted cabin deep in the woods. One door, one window. The window is boarded up. The former resident - a recluse - is deceased. Is there a story here? Estate liquidators make a living disposing of the personal effects of deceased persons. Typically these are elderly people who may have lived alone, and were considered a bit strange because of their aloofness. But as the liquidator goes through the effects of the deceased, they occasionally find a story. Here, Ambrose Bierce explorers some possibilities.

In this missive Ambrose Bierce recounts two days in his life, April 6 and April 7, 1862, perhaps the two most significant days of his life. He and over 100,000 other combatants have gathered about a small church near the town of Corinth, "a wretched place--the capital of a swamp, two days' march west of the Tennessee River". The church is Shiloh, and it will lend its name to the great battle that took place there.

A dare and a wager to spend the night locked up in a room with a corpse: What could go wrong? Be prepared to be surprised.

This anthology of unabridged short stories represents some of the most significant works from the most influential American authors of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Includes the following: "Rip Van Winkle" by Washington Irving, "Young Goodman Brown" by Nathaniel Hawthorne, "The Fall of the House of Usher" by Edgar Allan Poe, "Mermaids" by Louisa May Alcott, "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" by Mark Twain, "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" by Ambrose Bierce, and "The Gift of the Magi" by O. Henry.

>"Killed at Resaca" is the story of a brave man, loved by his fellow soldiers and driven by a heartless, beautiful woman. Full of Bierce's infamous sense of outrage and morality, this is a classic Civil War story.

Harker Brayton accepts an offer from an associate to stay at his house. We and Brayton learn that his friend's home is also home to numerous serpents. In fact, a wing of the house - the "Snakery" - is full of the cold blooded creatures, which have been known to wander.

A child stumbles across something in the snow. A wealthy man prepares for his retirement. What clever or cruel twist will this small masterpiece by Ambrose Bierce reveal?

“The Man from the Nose” is a short story from the civilian section of Ambrose Bierce’s In the Midst of Life: Tales of Soldiers and Civilians. Like the other tales from this collection, “The Man from the Nose” features a protagonist who is in the prime of his life, when a sudden event shatters his hopes and dreams. As with the rest of the Bierce's stories, the questions and characters presented in “The Man from the Nose” will remain on your mind long after you have stopped listening.

An opportunity to right a wrong that had been done, but at what cost.

What does one do when issued an order by a superior that is contradictory to what one believes to be right? In this short fictional story from the American Civil War, the protagonist is faced with that very situation. When given an insulting and ridiculous order by his commanding general, he carries the order out. Then, when questioned by a subordinate, he passes it on to him in the same manner. Friendly fire in a fog is just as deadly as fire from the enemy.

As the American Civil War rages, an officer who longs for the glory of battle has been assigned to staff duties away from the battlefield. Now a captain, he is assigned to a combat unit and faces battle for the first time. He finds there is no glory, only controlled terror for those engaged in war.

We have all experienced it. A scene, a smell, a sound, or a song will carry us back to another time, another place, and to memories pleasant or unpleasant. For Private Grayrock of the Federal Army in the fall of 1861, the trigger is a mockingbird.

A story of betrayal by a wife that launches a man into war; thought makes him a Yankee, feeling a Southerner, and he fights for his thoughts. The dignitary who signed his papers comes to the front for the ironic end.

A story that blends practical joking with death; the irony of the Devil's Dictionary is a live and well in this story. A jewel.

The Civil War divided West Point graduates as the North tried to get Robert E. Lee to be their Commander in Chief, brothers, and here son and father, with lamentable results.

Considered one of the great American short stories; Kurt Vonnegut said it was the best. Set in the Civil War with a Southwestern humor twist worthy of Mark Twain, but much grimmer. The story of betrayal as a Northern Scout in the Civil War lures a planter to blow up a bridge so he can be caught and hanged. Short, concise, worthy.

Chickamauga is a heart-rending Civil War story told through the eyes of a lost boy. The child bears witness to the atrocities of war. He sees dying men crawling across the ground, and later returns to his old homestead, only to find it has been largely destroyed. A must read for people interested in the Civil War and Americana in general, this short story by Ambrose Bierce sheds new light war and its aftermath.