American journalist and satirist Ambrose Bierce is one of the most famous and fascinating figures in all of American literature. He led an adventurous and eventful life, beginning with his birth in a log cabin, to his time as a Civil War soldier, and followed by his career as an author and journalist, to finally his mysterious disappearance during the Mexican Revolution at age 71. Bierce is perhaps best known for his short stories about the American Civil War, which influenced authors such as Ernest Hemingway and Stephen Crane. He was also an accomplished horror storywriter, whose work inspired the tales of H. P. Lovecraft. Bierce's gift for story-telling is exemplified by his famous "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge", which is the story of Peyton Farquhar, a Confederate sympathizer condemned to die by hanging upon the Owl Creek Bridge. It is one of the most anthologized of American short stories and showcases his cutting wit and talent for irony and surprise. This story, along with the rest of Bierce's short stories, are collected in this exhaustive edition of The Complete Short Stories of Ambrose Bierce. This edition includes a biographical afterword.
