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It would perhaps be around this time in 1863 that a Southern planter is arrayed for hanging in An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge This “greatest American short story … a flawless example of American genius” (according to Kurt Vonnegut) was 1890 product of puissant wordsmith Ambrose Bierce. In this non-chronological story, Peyton Farquhar, “a well to do planter, of an old and highly respected Alabama family,” is entrapped by a Union spy purporting to be a Confederate agent to attempt an act of sabotage in the face of a hanging warning issued by the Union army. It can be...

Today's Quotefall Puzzle features a quote by Ambrose Bierce. Click puzzle (or click here) for full size rendition, then use your browser's print command to print puzzle. Ambrose Bierce was an American short story writer, journalist, poet, and Civil War veteran. He disappeared in December of 2013 in Chihuahua, Mexico, rumored to be travelling with rebel troops in the Mexican Revolution. All hints, along with the answer, are provided in the first reply comment below, using filtered font to prevent accidental spoilers. Please refrain from disclosing the full answer in comments to prevent spoilers.Note: Puzzle contains a letter filled in to reduce...

One golden autumn morning 100 years ago, a few blocks from where I’m writing these words in northwest Washington, D.C., Ambrose Bierce said goodbye to his secretary, turned the key in the door to his apartment on Logan Circle, and went off to God knows where. I’m not speaking figuratively: God and nobody else knows where Ambrose Bierce ended up—or when, how, or why. He had taken September and early October to settle his personal affairs, as people used to say. His literary affairs had been settled with the publication of his collected works, more than a million words packed...

A man stood upon a railroad bridge in northern Alabama, looking down into the swift water twenty feet below. The man’s hands were behind his back, the wrists bound with a cord. A rope closely encircled his neck. It was attached to a stout cross-timber above his head and the slack fell to the level of his knees. Some loose boards laid upon the sleepers supporting the metals of the railway supplied a footing for him and his executioners—two private soldiers of the Federal army, directed by a sergeant who in civil life may have been a deputy sheriff. At...

You can't flip through a newspaper or wander around the Internet these days without stumbling across a debate over whether bloggers are journalists. This isn't trivial. Journalists often get access to places and information that others don't. Because they're surrogates for the public, they can get close to the action when emergencies break out. They benefit from the California Shield Law, which allows them, in most instances, to keep secret sources secret.... The Federal Elections Commission soon will explore whether campaign-finance laws apply to partisan bloggers whose work may, in effect, be akin to donating their services to campaigns.... It's...

Exclusive! Ambrose Bierce on Terrorism His Own Words interviewed by Don Swaim BIERCE: I knew you'd be back eventually, Mr. Swaim. SWAIM: Mr. Bierce, we beg your counsel. On September 11, the worst terrorist attack in the history of America occurred in New York, and... BIERCE: "Celestial bird," I cried in pain, / "What vandal wrought this wreck? Explain." SWAIM: Precisely, Mr. Bierce, what vandal indeed? Americans need clarity. We must know what sort of people would commit such a deed, flying heavily fueled airliners into tall buildings at the cost of thousands of lives. BIERCE: I always warned against...