Stephen Crane (November 1, 1871 - June 5, 1900) was an American novelist, short story writer, poet and journalist who wrote prolifically in his short life, becoming one of the best writers in the genres of Realism and Naturalism. Like Ambrose Bierce, Crane wrote often about war, inspired in part by his time spent as a war correspondent. One of his admirers was none other than Ernest Hemingway, who was influenced heavily by Crane's style. Although he was never a soldier, and he was born after the Civil War, his most famous novel was The Red Badge of Courage, making him a known name across the world during the 1890s. One of the most popular novels written about the Civil War, The Red Badge of Courage is about a young private in the Union Army, Henry Fleming, who flees from the field of battle. Overcome with shame, he acts as a color bearer carrying the regiment's flag, the most dangerous position in battle. The masterful work has realistic battle sequences, vivid imagery, psychology, and a tone of irony.

Drawn by visions of glory on the battlefield, Henry Fleming joins the Union Army to fight the Confederates. But his dreams of valor are outweighed by his fear, and after one battle, Harry runs away. As he runs, he meets several wounded men whose "red badges of courage" make him even more ashamed of his cowardice. Henry returns to the front line and, inspired by the men who sacrificed their limbs and lives, fights with a passion he never knew he had. This is an unabridged version of the classic Civil War novel by American author Stephen Crane, first published in 1895.

The Red Badge of Courage (1895) is a vivid psychological account of a young man's experience of fighting in the American Civil War, based on Crane's reading of popular descriptions of battle. The intensity of its narrative and its naturalistic power earned Crane instant success, and led to his spending most of his brief remaining life war reporting. The other stories collected in this volume draw on this experience; `The Open Boat' (1898) was inspired by his fifty hour struggle with waves after his ship was sunk during an expedition to Cuba; `The Monster' (1899) is a bitterly ironic commentary on the ostracization of a doctor for harbouring the servant who was disfigured and lost his sanity rescuing his son. As a rare example of Crane working in a vein of American Gothic, it is particularly striking for its treatment of race and social injustice. `The Blue Hotel' traces the events that lead to a murder at a bar in a small Nebraska town. This edition is the most generously annotated edition of Crane's work, exploring it from a fresh critical perspective and focusing on his place as an experimental writer, his modernist legacy and his social as well as literary revisionism. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

Reprint. Originally published: New York: Baronet Books, c1993.