The Red Badge of Courage

This classic war novel is Stephen Crane's most famous work. It is considered by many critics to be the greatest war novel ever written. The setting is the civil war, and the hero (or anti-hero as it seems at first) is Henry Flemming, a young Northern boy who, swept up in the patriotic tide, joins the Union Army. He is plunged into the conflict, and his courage fails him - he runs from his first battle. He finds out later that his side was victorious, and he feels that he will never be able to face himself or his comrades again. Then, after being wounded and through a series of memorable events, he finds that he is not alone and slowly recovers his courage in time for a crucial confrontation. This is one of the most realistic war stories ever written and gives a striking depiction of how soldiers behave under fire.