The Red Badge of Courage

Front Cover
CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, Jul 28, 2010 - Fiction - 124 pages

More the story of the battle that rages within one soldier than the battle between Confederate and Union soldiers, "The Red Badge of Courage" established Stephen Crane's place in American literature and remains his most popular work. With no idea of the horrors of war, young Henry Fleming has romantic notions of the hero he will be. But when he enters his first battle his illusions are destroyed. Fighting for his life and scared, Henry must make a decision: run or stay.

About the author (2010)

Stephen Crane authored novels, short stories, and poetry, but is best known for his realistic war fiction. Crane was a correspondent in the Greek-Turkish War and the Spanish American War, penning numerous articles, war reports and sketches. His most famous work, The Red Badge of Courage (1896), portrays the initial cowardice and later courage of a Union soldier in the Civil War. In addition to six novels, Crane wrote over a hundred short stories including "The Blue Hotel," "The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky," and "The Open Boat." His first book of poetry was The Black Riders (1895), ironic verse in free form. Crane wrote 136 poems. Crane was born November 1, 1871, in Newark, New Jersey. After briefly attending Lafayette College and Syracuse University, he became a freelance journalist in New York City. He published his first novel, Maggie: Girl of the Streets, at his own expense because publishers found it controversial: told with irony and sympathy, it is a story of the slum girl driven to prostitution and then suicide. Crane died June 5, 1900, at age 28 from tuberculosis.

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