The Red Badge of Courage (with an Introduction by William Targ) by Stephen Crane

The Red Badge of Courage (with an Introduction by William Targ) by Stephen Crane

First published serially in 1894 and lengthened for the book publication in 1895, The Red Badge of Courage is a classic modern depiction of the psychological turmoil of war from the perspective of an ordinary soldier. The story revolves around Henry Fleming, a member of the 304th regiment of the Union Army, serving during the American Civil War. At the start of the novel Henry is eager to show his patriotism in battle but when faced with the savagery of death he flees the frontline. Ashamed of his behavior, Henry spends the rest of the novel trying to redeem his earlier cowardice. Instantly popular from its original publication, The Red Badge of Courage garnered what H. G. Well's would refer to as an orgy of praise, bringing Crane instant notoriety in the United States and abroad. Noted for its unique style, the work has been described as at once naturalistic, realistic, and impressionistic. Although never having seen battle Stephen Crane vividly depicted the grueling intensity of war in his landmark work. This edition is printed on premium acid-free paper and includes an introduction by William Targ.

STEPHEN CRANE was born, the fourteenth child of a Methodist minister, in Newark, New Jersey, on November 1, 1871. Writ-ing was an occupation encouraged in Crane's family; two of his brothers became newspapermen. Crane himself began turning out stories at the age of eight. In 1890, following the deaths of both parents, Crane moved to New York City where, to support himself, he worked as a freelance newspaper writer. His first novel, Maggie: A Girl of the Streets, which Crane had begun at college, was published pseudonymously in 1893, when he was only twenty-one (Crane had had to borrow money from his brother to pay for its initial printing). Reviewers at the time found Maggie, a penetrating look at New York slum life, too cruel, and the book sold poorly. Crane's first literary success came in 1895 with The Red Badge of Courage.

Crane's travels and experiences during the later 1890s as a war correspondent -- he was sent to the combat areas of Mex-ico, Greece, and Cuba -- furnished rich material for other sto-ries, including The Open Boat (based partly on Crane's own experience of shipwreck off the coast of Florida) and The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky, whose blend of realism and romanticism earned the praise of William Dean Howells, Theodore Dreiser, and other American realists.

Crane also published two volumes of poetry, The Black Rider and Other Lines (1895) and War Is Kind (1899), which dramatized his rebellion against New England Calvinism and conservative evangelical Christianity. Spumed or ignored by the critics of his own country, Crane traveled with his wife-to--be to England, where The Red Badge of Courage was greatly admired, and where he made the acquaintance of such literary giants as Henry James (another American emigre) and Joseph Conrad.

Crane's adventuresome and roving lifestyle seriously under-mined his health; after fruitless efforts to obtain a cure, he died of tuberculosis in Badenweiler, Germany, on June 5, 1900, at the age of twenty-eight.

Stephen Crane published other novels and several vol-umes of short stories, including George's Mother (1896), The Third Violet (1897), The Monster and Other Stories (1899), and Whilomville Stories (1900).

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9781420953725
ISBN 10	1420953729
Title	The Red Badge of Courage (with an Introduction by William Targ)
Author	Stephen Crane
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Digireads.com
Year published	2016-09-06
Number of pages	108
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.