Stephen Crane, The Red Badge of Courage (1895)
One of the most influential works in American literature, Stephen Crane’s The Red Badge of Courage has been called the greatest novel about the American Civil War. The tale of a young recruit in the American Civil War who learns the cruelty of war made Crane an international success, although he was born after the war and had not experienced battle himself. The work is notable for its vivid depiction of the internal conflict of its main character—an exception to most war novels until that time, which focused more on the battles than on their characters.
One of the most influential works in American literature, Stephen Crane’s <em>The Red Badge of Courage</em> has been called the greatest novel about the American Civil War. The tale of a young recruit in the American Civil War who learns the cruelty of war made Crane an international success, although he was born after the war and had not experienced battle himself. The work is notable for its vivid depiction of the internal conflict of its main character—an exception to most war novels until that time, which focused more on the battles than on their characters.