One Source Analysis

Ambrose Bierce Alone in Bad Company
                by Roy Morris Jr.
                Crown Publisher's
                New York
                1998

Alone in Bad Company is a useful source as the author includes as much information as possible. Morris Jr. uses many different sources, including primary sources, which are included in his biography of Ambrose Bierce, and therefore makes it a reliable text. He gives valuable insight into the writings of Bierce. He does this by relating the stories to Bierce's life his context. Morris seems to have studied the American Civil War extensively. This makes the book a very valuable and useful source for the project, as knowledge about the war is required.

The strengths of the source are the use of both primary and secondary texts, the content centring around the American Civil War, and the detailed biographical details of Bierce. Its weakness is bias in the direction of praising Bierce. The central argument in Alone in Bad Company is the extent to which Bierce's life and personality affected his writing and decisions.