Bierce, Ambrose, edited & with introduction by William McCann, — Ambrose Bierce's Civil War.

NY, Wings, (1996). 1st ptg thus. VG in VG DJ. Bierce's Civil War writings are both factual & fictional. He fought in the war & turned his experiences to literary account. One of the few writers who actually fought in the war, he is recognized as one of the greatest chroniclers of the Civil War. He participated in the War's daily routines, experienced the senseless confusion, terror & blood-letting of battle. His crisply evocative first-hand accounts of life & death on the firing line set the standard for historical acuracy as well as dramatic power. At 71 he decided to visit Mexico with a purpose he did not wish to disclose. We may never know what it was because he crossed the border into Mexico and disappeared forever. He had always hoped for a sudden death saying, "It beats old age, disease, and falling down the cellar stairs.".