Full Description
The story of a young soldier, Henry Fleming, who flees a Civil War battle, The Red Badge of Courage has been celebrated for its depiction of both the physical action of battle and the protagonist's internal struggle. Despite the precise and vivid descriptions of the scenes of battle in his fiction, Stephen Crane was not born until six years after the war had ended and never saw military service. His novel altered the tradition of war literature in its naturalistic emphasis on a single, ordinary man facing the horrors of battle.
This edition includes an important new introduction by James Nagel, author of the book Stephen Crane and Literary Impressionism and former president of the Stephen Crane Society. Historically significant reviews and commentary from the publication of the novel in 1895 are included, along with the deleted Chapter 12 from the novel. The short story "The Veteran," in which the protagonist appears as an elderly man, is also included.
Contents
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Stephen Crane: A Brief Chronology
A Note on the Text
The Red Badge of Courage: An Episode of the American Civil War
Appendix A: Reminiscences of Stephen Crane
Hamlin Garland, "Stephen Crane: A Soldier of Fortune" (1900)
Joseph Conrad, "Stephen Crane: A Note without Dates" (December 1919)
Appendix B: Reviews of The Red Badge of Courage
William Dean Howells, Harper's Weekly (26 October 1895)
H.B. Marriott Watson, Pall Mall Gazette (26 November 1895)
Harold Frederic, The New York Times (26 January 1896)
Arthur G. Sedgwick, The Nation (2 July 1896)
Thomas Wentworth Higginson, "A Bit of War Photography," The Philistine (July 1896)
William Morton Payne, The Dial (1 February 1896)
Appendix C: A Debate about Crane's Novel
General Alexander C. McClurg, The Dial (16 April 1896)
Ripley Hitchcock, The Dial (1 May 1896)
Sydney Brooks, The Dial (16 May 1896)
Appendix D: The Deleted Chapter 12 of The Red Badge of Courage
Appendix E: Stephen Crane, "The Veteran"
Select Bibliography
