The Red Badge of Courage

A stone-cold classic in war writing, I studied this short novel at university and loved it. Crane never actually went to war and yet his depiction of men fighting in the American Civil War felt so real, that it gave me the confidence to write historical fiction, knowing I’d never experienced these things but my research and imagination could be brought to bear and hopefully transport the reader in the same way Crane did. It also began a lifelong obsession for me with the American Civil War. When I first started writing historical novels I knew I wanted to write… show more.

Battles in this novel are written brilliantly and encompass the character Henry Flemings, and how he reacts to his surroundings is impressive. Readers can experience the Civil War’s fear, horror, dread, exhilaration, triumph, exhaustion, and hunger through Fleming’s eyes. As he navigates the war, Fleming is unsure whether he would be considered a man or a coward after the last shot is fired.

Another classic… and with good reason. It’s a masterpiece that puts a whole new slant on the American Civil War, its story and hero being far from the wonderful Gone With the Wind epic, but equally as riveting. It may not stir the juices of gallantry, but it makes you think and impels you to read it again and again.

I think it’s easy to see that there’s a prevailing theme in my choices of the best books I’ve read for here again, we have a controversial hero that tests the reader’s way of thinking and willingness to side with… show more.

Why read The Red Badge of Courage written by a man who did not serve in the war, when there are so many letters and diaries written by bona fide soldiers who served in the war? Crane’s depiction of Henry Fleming, the soldier, is a work of fiction that uses Crane’s Modernist style to tell the story of a soldier who is gripped by fear of being in combat. Crane’s narration highlights the main character’s isolation and psychological crises. The mental state of the soldier in the book more accurately depicts the mind of soldiers in war than letters and… show more.

Stephen Crane was born in 1871; his father was a minister; his mother-daughter of a minister. His Christian background prepared him to write about the Civil War, which was understood by soldiers on both sides as a moral test of manly status. Despite having no personal experience of battle, Crane wrote a classic novel that includes both battle scenes and the interior story of a young man’s fight against fear. His young protagonist, Henry Fleming, begins in cowardice and ends in heroism. I love this book for its insight into the constant stress of men in combat—facing the pain of… show more.

As a reader, you spend zero time inside the minds of generals as they pour over maps and hash out strategy. Rather, The Red Badge of Courage focuses on a single character, 18-year-old private, Henry Fleming. And that’s the magic of Crane’s masterpiece. This is war seen from a perspective that is idiosyncratic, intimate, and deeply vulnerable.

Crane was born more than six years after the end of the Civil War, yet this gifted writer nevertheless produced its quintessential novel. An exponent of “naturalism”—think of it as “realism,” but meaner—Crane describes the plight of Henry Fleming, a private who flees from battle in fear, becomes wracked by guilt, and seeks redemption.