{"code":"war","header_2":"The grim, the ghastly and the gory.","header_1":"The Best War Short Stories of History","description":"The best war short stories of history. Read or download. Cain by Aleksandr I. Kuprin, Beware of the Dog by Roald Dahl, An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge by Ambrose Bierce.","stories":[{"story":"cain","description":"Perhaps more relevant than ever, Kuprin writes of an unnamed expedition by the Russian Empire. After sentencing an old man to death, he is visited at night by the very same man. How did he escape? What does he want? Who is he?"},{"story":"the-coup-de-grace","description":"A soldier finds his friend mortally wounded after a battle. With a revolver in hand, He ponders what he ought to do. *The Coup De Grâce* poses a moral question to the reader, and answers it with a bang."},{"story":"beware-of-the-dog","description":"Roald Dahl writes the only piece on this list not explicitly anti-war. In this mystery, A British WWII pilot bails from his plane somewhere near the English channel, then wakes up in a hospital with a caring nurse and doctor who are overly interested in his squadron and other private details."},{"story":"an-occurrence-at-owl-creek-bridge","description":"*An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge* is perhaps the most famous short story about war in the English language. It is a poetically written piece that attempts to draw out some basic sympathy for the humanity in the soldiers on the other side. Bierce writes of a confederate soldier who is sentenced to death upon a bridge and reminisces on his life."},{"story":"into-egypt","description":"A tale of tyranny told from the eyes of an obedient soldier. Stephen Vincent Benet delves into the thoughts of a young man marching the *Accursed people* through the desert and out of his homeland."},{"story":"the-sniper","description":"A Republican sniper of the Irish civil war waits on a rooftop, pondering whether he can risk giving away his position by lighting his cigarette. He decides to take the risk, and faces the unexpected consequences. Written while the Irish Civil War was still ongoing, *The Sniper* was Liam O’Flaherty’s first published work, and went on to become his most famous."},{"story":"father-milon","description":"Guy de Maupassant wrote many stories on civilians caught up during the Franco-Prussian wars. *Father Milon* is a story about revenge, following the mysterious, nightly disappearings of occupying Prussian soldiers in a French village."}],"title":"Best of War","subroute":"war","authors":["ambrosebierce","roalddahl","guydemaupassant","rudyardkipling"],"has_text":true,"quote":{"quote":"“Perhaps the queerest thing was that they all looked so ordinary, so much a part of everyday.” * Into Egypt","code":"into-egypt"},"image_code":"into-egypt","image_alt":"Drawing of a young soldier with a bayonet looking at a man.","collection_type":"genre"}