Red Badge of Courage (The World's Best Reading)

Leatherbound Hardcover 176 pages. Condition Fine Issued with NO Dust Jacket. Reader's Digest World's Best Reading Reprint edition 1982. Beautiful red boards with black leather 1/8 spine and gilt embossing shows off this Clean, tight, square copy with no marks, highlights or bookplates. Well kept and carefully stored in unread condition. No shelf wear. Not an ex-library, book club or remainder copy.

This classic novel of the American Civil War evokes the horrors of battle and the psychology of fear as it recounts the experience of a young, untried Union Army volunteer. Henry Fleming longs to prove himself by winning the "red badge beyond all doubt. But when he finally does come under fire, he learns the grim truth about war's "glory" and the real meaning of bravery.

Most novels about war are broad, sweeping stories that try to capture the big picture of what happened. But what's it like for the individual? What were they thinking, feeling, and experiencing? That's what Stephen Crane brings to life in this book. He shows the fine line between courage and cowardice that exists in everyone. An American classic that has never been out of print.

Stephen Crane (1871-1900) was an American novelist, poet and journalist, best known for the novel, The Red Badge of Courage. That work introduced the reading world to Crane's striking prose, a mix of impressionism, naturalism and symbolism.