The Red Badge of Courage and Other Stories - Penguin Classics by Stephen Crane Paperback

Book Synopsis

Henry Fleming, a raw Union Army recruit in the American Civil War, is anxious to confirm his patriotism and manhood--to earn his "badge of courage." But his dreams of heroism and invulnerability are soon shattered when he flees the Confederate enemy during his baptism of fire and then witnesses the horrible death of a friend. Plunged unwillingly into the nightmare of war, Fleming survives by sheer luck and instinct.

This edition of Stephen Crane's poignant classic is supplemented by five of his acclaimed short stories as well as selected poetry, offering the full range of this great American author's extraordinary talent.

For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

From the Back Cover

In 1895 Stephen Crane achieved early fame with his powerful, enigmatic portrayal of a raw recruit's experience of war, The Red Badge of Courage. Although Crane had never experienced battle, he wrote with rare insight and immediacy of his young protagonist's fluctuating emotions, in a style that had a profound influence on American fiction. This selection includes the 1896 coda to the story, 'The Veteran', and the best of Crane's other fiction: the impressionist masterpiece 'The Open Boat'; The Monster, perhaps the most complex and disturbing of all Crane's works; and 'The Blue Hotel; his greatest western story. This edition explores Crane's work from a fresh critical perspective and introduces new research on the imaginative relationship between Crane's novel and the Civil War.

Review Quotes

The Red Badge of Courage has long been considered the first great ?modern? novel of war by an American (Alfred Kazin)

About the Author

Stephen Crane (1871-1900) was active as a reporter around the world in addition to being an acclaimed novelist.

Gary Scharnhorst is editor of American Literary Realism and editor in alternating years of the research annual American Literary Scholarship.