The Red Badge of Courage

Stephen Crane (1871-1900)

Original en 46028 words First published 1895 United States

Crane's 1895 novel of the American Civil War, written by a man who had never seen a battle — and so the most exact account of what a battle does inside a soldier's head. Henry Fleming, a farm boy in the Union army, has dreamed of heroic deeds; at Chancellorsville he runs from his first engagement, then spends a day among the wounded and the dying, watching his own courage, cowardice and self-deception rise and fall. Short, impressionistic and pitiless, it has the strange distinction of being the finest war novel ever written by a civilian who feared himself a fraud.

Text sourced from Project Gutenberg (public domain in the United States); the Project Gutenberg trademark and license text have been removed on import. Public-domain status determined by the author's death year + 50 years rule.

The Red Badge of Courage

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