Ambrose Bierce was born in Meigs County, Ohio. Let that sink in for a moment. One of the most redneck regions in Ohio produced one of the greatest American writers, and yet he seems to have passed into obscurity in Ohio's obsession with disappointing sports teams and OSU. Why is that? Could it be that the continually underperforming Browns give the average Joe more hope then an Ambrose Bierce short story?

Mr. Bierce understands that a good short story builds to an "effect". In Bierce's case, the idea is to offer a twist at the end that will clarify with terrible force the story preceding it. This leads to some incredibly...distressing... endings, sometimes even when you are expecting it.

Tales of Soldiers and Civilians is divided between the war short stories and the "civilian" stories. The war stories take place during the Civil War, of which Ambrose Bierce was a veteran. In these stories, Bierce is at his best drawing from actual experience and knowledge of how the Northern army works. One would probably learn more about the Civil War reading these stories then taking a class on them... so often do we reduce history to dates and events, the people and how they interacted in such times are forgotten. We forget human history is made by human nature.

The Civilian stories, with some very notable exceptions, are inferior to the war stories and sometimes verge on "pulp" quality. Here, we see a Bierce expanding his horizons which will lead to his "ghost stories" (which I shall review when I read that volume).