The Devil?s Dictionary - Bierce, Ambrose

Bodleian Library

DIPLOMACY, n. The patriotic art of lying for one's country In 1881 Ambrose Bierce, journalist and former soldier for the Union army in the Civil War, began writing satirical definitions for the San Francisco Wasp, and then for William Randolph Hearst's San Francisco Examiner. Bierce was launched on a journalistic career that would see him liked and loathed in equal measure \u2013 and earn him the title of \u2018the wickedest man in San Francisco\u2019.\nIn his column, Bierce, a contemporary of Mark Twain, brought his biting black humour to bear on spoof definitions of everyday words, writing deliberate mistranslations of the vocabulary of the establishment, the Church and the politics of his day, and shining a sardonic light on hypocrisy and deception.\nThese columns formed the beginnings of a\n\nThe Devil's Dictionary\n\nFree UK delivery on this item.\n\nThis brand new item is available with free UK delivery using Royal Mail tracked services.\n\nPlease note that the price advertise;