Published in 1895, The Red Badge of Courage follows young Henry Fleming as he faces his first Civil War battle, flees in terror, and struggles to redeem himself in his own eyes and those of his comrades. Stephen Crane wrote the novel without personal combat experience but produced a psychological portrait of the soldier under fire so accurate that veterans found it astonishing.
Written in a vivid, impressionistic style that anticipates much of twentieth-century American literary technique, The Red Badge of Courage remains one of the most important and beautifully written American war novels. Download the free public-domain EPUB at Better Gutenberg.