With an Introduction by Richard Jenseth, St Lawrence University The Red Badge of Courage is one of the greatest war novels of all time.It reports on the American Civil War through the eyes of Henry Fleming, anordinary farm boy turned soldier. It evokes the chaos and the dull clatterof war: the acrid smoke, the incessant rumours of coming battles, thefilth and cold, the numbing monotony, the unworldly wailing of the dying.Like an impressionist painter, Crane also captures the strange beauty ofwar: the brilliant red flags against a blue sky, steel bayonets flashingin the morning sun as soldiers step off into battle. In the midst of thischaotic outer world, he creates an intricate inner world as he takes usinside the head of Henry Fleming.