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 "The Damned Thing" and "Moxon's Master", and his hilariously horrific "Oil of Dog" and "My Favorite Murder".--back coverTABLE OF CONTENTSIntroductionSuggestions for Further ReadingA Note on the TextFrom In the Midst of LifeSoldiers:A Horseman in the SkyAn Occurrence at Owl Creek BridgeChickamaugaA Son of the GodsOne of the MissingKilled at ResacaThe Affair at Coulter’s NotchThe Coup de GrâceParker Adderson, PhilosopherAn Affair of OutpostsThe Story of a ConscienceOne Kind of OfficerThe Mocking-BirdCivilians:The Man Out of the NoseThe Man and the SnakeThe Boarded WindowFrom Can Such Things Be?Can Such Things Be?:Moxon’s MasterA Tough TussleA Resumed IdentityThe Night-Doings at “Deadman’s”The Realm of the UnrealThe Damned ThingHaïta the ShepherdThe Ways of Ghosts:Present at a HangingA Wireless MessageSoldier Folk:Three and One Are OneFrom Negligible TalesNegligible Tales:A Bottomless GraveJupiter Doke, Brigadier-GeneralThe City of the Gone AwayThe Major’s TaleCurried CowA Revolt of the GodsThe Parenticide Club:My Favorite MurderOil of DogFrom AntepenultimataA Bivouac of the DeadFrom The OpinionatorThe Controversialist:The Short StoryExplanatory NotesGlossary of Military TermsBattle Sites and Battle Leaders

    This Library of America volume (the third of five volumes devoted to his short fiction) includes among its seventeen stories some of James’s greatest masterpieces.“The Aspern Papers” is a stunning novella about emotional ruthlessness in the service of literary scholarship. “The Pupil” is a densely suggestive account of the moral perplexities underlying the relationship between an impoverished tutor and a young invalid. “The Lesson of the Master” is an intricate study of ambition, disappointment, and the demands of a life devoted to art. “Brooksmith” is a moving portrait of a house servant and “Sir Edmund Orme” is an enthralling ghost story.In “The Liar,” a painter attempts to force a former love to admit that her present husband is a pathological liar; in “The Patagonia,” a young man cavalierly flirts with a young woman en route to her wedding in England, with disastrous consequences.More than half the stories within this volume are available in no other edition.