Joseph Conrad was born in Berdyczow, which, at the time of his birth, on December 3, 1857, was a city in Ukraine. Determined to be a sailor, Conrad left home at 16 and moved to Marseilles, France, where he began his apprenticeship, working entry-level positions on several merchant ships. His career floundered, however, when he learned that to continue this line of work he needed the permission... Read More
Joseph Conrad, original name Józef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski, was an English novelist and short-story writer of Polish descent, whose works include the novels Lord Jim, Nostromo, The Secret Agent, and the short story Heart of Darkness. During his lifetime Conrad was admired for the richness of his prose and his renderings of dangerous life at sea and in exotic places. Whether due to his multi-... Read More
Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson was born in Edinburgh on the 13 November 1850. His father and grandfather were both successful engineers who built many of the lighthouses that dotted the Scottish coast, whilst his mother came from a family of lawyers and church ministers. A sickly boy whose mother was also often unwell, Stevenson spent much of his childhood with the family nurse, Alison Cunningh... Read More
Robert Louis Stevenson is one of Edinburgh’s great writers, with novels including Treasure Island, Kidnapped, and The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. As well as a novelist, Stevenson was a travel writer and essayist and moved around the world extensively. He is now evaluated as a peer of authors such as Joseph Conrad and Henry James, with new scholarly studies and organisations devoted t... Read More
Robert Louis Stevenson was a Scottish novelist and travel writer, most noted for Treasure Island, Kidnapped, Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, and A Child's Garden of Verses. Born in 1850, Robert Louis Stevenson grew up in Edinburgh where his father was a well-respected lighthouse engineer. Stevenson almost followed his father’s example, studying engineering at Edinburgh University, but at... Read More
Robert Louis Stevenson is best known as the author of the children’s classic Treasure Island, and the adult horror story, The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Hyde. He is currently ranked as the 26th most translated author in the world. Robert Louis Stevenson was a great traveller. He sought adventure through travel but also needed an environment amenable to his recurring ill health. Early trave... Read More
Robert Louis Stevenson was a Scottish novelist and travel writer. Between the years 1880 to 1887, Stevenson searched in vain for a suitable climate to accommodate his poor health. He and Fanny eventually settled in Bournemouth in July 1884 in the house named 'Skerryvore'. Stevenson was very ill throughout the years he lived at Skerryvore and often unable to leave the house. In 1885 he published... Read More
Ambrose Bierce, in full Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce, was an American newspaperman, wit, satirist, and author of sardonic short stories based on themes of death and horror. Bierce was born in a log cabin at Horse Cave Creek in Meigs County, Ohio, on June 24, 1842, to Marcus Aurelius Bierce and Laura Sherwood Bierce. He was of entirely English ancestry: all of his forebears came to North America betw... Read More
Ambrose Bierce was an American writer of sardonic short stories based on themes of death and horror. An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge is about a man named Peyton Farquhar. He was a well-off southern planter from Alabama. Peyton, who was “ardently devoted to the Southern cause,” was prevented from joining the army by circumstance and was eager to serve the South in any way possible. One evening... Read More
Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce’s literary reputation is based primarily on his short stories about the Civil War and the supernatural, a body of work that makes up a relatively small part of his total output. Often compared to the tales of Edgar Allan Poe, these stories share an attraction to death in its more bizarre forms, featuring depictions of mental deterioration, uncanny, otherworldly manifesta... Read More
Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce was an American editorialist, journalist, short story writer, fabulist and satirist. Bierce professed to be mainly concerned with the artistry of his work, but critics find him more intent on conveying his misanthropy and pessimism. In his lifetime Bierce was famous as a California journalist dedicated to exposing the truth as he understood it, regardless of whose reputa... Read More
Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce was an American satirist, critic, short story writer, editor and journalist. Bierce lived and wrote in England from 1872 to 1875, contributing to Fun magazine. His first book, The Fiend's Delight, a compilation of his articles, was published in London in 1873 by John Camden Hotten under the pseudonym "Dod Grile". Today, he is best known for his short story, An Occurrence... Read More
Ambrose Bierce was an American newspaperman and author of short stories. Known for his satirical wit and sardonic view of human nature, he earned the nickname "Bitter Bierce." Ambrose Bierce is perhaps most famous for his serialized mock lexicon, The Devil's Dictionary, in which, over the years, he scathed American culture and accepted wisdom by pointing out alternate, more practical definition... Read More
Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce was an American editorialist, journalist, short-story writer, and satirist, today best known for his Devil's Dictionary, which lampooned, among other things, religion and politics. Because of his penchant for biting social criticism and satire, Bierce's long newspaper career was often steeped in controversy. On several occasions, his columns stirred up a storm of hostile... Read More
Ambrose Bierce was an American journalist, short story writer and, editorialist. His main occupations were in the writing or editing field, although he also played the satire. He had a very distinctive style of writing which embraced an abrupt beginning, dark imagery, limited descriptions, the theme of war, impossible events, and vague references to time. Bierce wrote realistically of the terri... Read More
Ambrose Bierce was an American newspaper columnist, satirist, essayist, short-story writer, and novelist, an enigmatic figure, and some say he was simply a cold-hearted bitter person. His death is still a mystery, but in 1913 Bierce set off for Mexico and stated, "If you ever hear of my being stood up against a Mexican Stone wall and being shot to rags please know it is a pretty good way to dep... Read More
Hector Hugh Munro, better known by the pen name Saki, and also frequently as H. H. Munro, was a British writer whose witty, mischievous and sometimes macabre stories satirize Edwardian society and culture. He is considered a master of the short story and often compared to O. Henry and Dorothy Parker. Influenced by Oscar Wilde, Lewis Carroll and Rudyard Kipling, he himself influenced A. A. Milne... Read More
Saki was the pseudonym of short story writer Hector Hugh Munro. He adopted the name in 1900, and it's believed to have been taken from a character from the works of the Persian poet, Omar Khayyam. Most famous for his short stories, Saki also wrote novels and many articles of journalism. He remains an important figure in the tradition of modern English writers, although his politics and ideas ma... Read More
Hector Hugh Munro, better known by the pen name Saki, and also frequently as H. H. Munro, was a British writer whose witty, mischievous and sometimes macabre stories satirize Edwardian society and culture. Like his influence, Rudyard Kipling, Hector Hugh Munro was an Englishman by blood, born under the British Raj, in what is now modern-day Myanmar. His father was a police chief in Burma. Munro... Read More
Saki is the pen name of Hector Hugh Munro or H.H. Munro, a British writer known mostly for his short stories. Saki was born in Burma, where he lived until his mother died after a miscarriage during a visit to England when Saki was around two years old. The loss of her child was attributed to the significant shock she suffered after being charged by a bull, even though she wasn't struck by the a... Read More