The Short Stories of Bret Harte: True American great of literature who wrote about the Old West and the California Gold Rush

Written by Bret Harte

Narrated by Eric Meyers, Laurel Lefkow and Christopher Ragland

Francis Bret Harte was born on 25th August 1836 in Albany New York.

As a young boy Harte developed an early love of books and reading. He first published at the tender age of 11, his satirical poem ‘Autumn Musings’. Expecting praise he received anything but and later wrote "Such a shock was their ridicule to me that I wonder that I ever wrote another line of verse."

By age 13 his formal education was at an end and four years later the family moved to California. Here the young man worked in a variety of capacities; miner, teacher, messenger, and journalist.

But it was also here that he found the stories and inspiration for the works that would seal his fame across the literary world. He was instrumental in propelling the short story genre forward and brought tales of the Old West and the Gold Rush to a greater audience. At the height of his fame he would entertain staggering monetary offers to write for monthly magazines.

His talents extended to poetry, plays, lectures, book reviews, editorials, and magazine sketches. As he moved location, initially east to New York and then through Consular appointments to Europe and finally England his audience diminished but he continued to experiment, to write and to publish.

Bret Harte died of throat cancer on May 5th 1902 and is buried in St Peter’s Church in Frimley, Surrey, England.

01 - Bret Harte - A Short Story Collection - An Introduction

02 - The Outcasts of Poker Flat by Bret Harte

03 - The Poet of Sierra Flat by Bret Harte

04 - Tennessee's Partner by Bret Harte

05 - The Luck of Roaring Camp by Bret Harte

06 - A Jersey Centenarian by Bret Harte

07 - The Man of No Account by Bret Harte

08 - A Lonely Ride by Bret Harte

09 - The Iliad of Sandy Bar by Bret Harte

• Language: English
• Publisher: The Copyright Group
• Release date: Jan 1, 2023
• ISBN: 9781839678974

Bret Harte

Bret Harte (1836–1902) was an author and poet known for his romantic depictions of the American West and the California gold rush. Born in New York, Harte moved to California when he was seventeen and worked as a miner, messenger, and journalist. In 1868 he became editor of the Overland Monthly, a literary journal in which he published his most famous work, “The Luck of Roaring Camp.” In 1871 Harte returned east to further his writing career. He spent his later years as an American diplomat in Germany and Britain.