The Red Badge of Courage & The Veteran

First published in 1895 this small masterpiece set the pattern for the treatment of war in modern fiction. The novel is told through the eyes of Henry Fleming a young soldier caught up in an unnamed Civil War battle who is motivated not by the unselfish heroism of conventional war stories but by fear cowardice and finally egotism. However in his struggle to find reality amid the nightmarish chaos of war the young soldier also discovers courage humility and perhaps wisdom. Although Crane had neve...See More