The Red Badge of Courage

Written by Stephen Crane at the age of twenty-one,The Red Badge of Courageis one of the greatest war novels of all time -- so groundbreaking that critics consider it to be the first work of modern American fiction. Although Crane never witnessed warfare,The Red Badge of Courageis a realistic and terrifying account of the Civil War and the fear that a young soldier must face on the battlefield as well as within himself.

Stephen Crane (1871-1900) was born in New Jersey and was the last of fourteen children. While The Red Badge of Courage is considered Crane's masterpiece, he is also known for another brilliant yet grim work of fiction, Maggie, A Girl of the Streets (1893), as well as his poetry and journalism. Crane moved to Europe in 1897 and died in Germany at the age of twenty-nine from tuberculosis.

Jim Murphy has written two Newbery Honor books: An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793 (which was also a National Book Award finalist) and The Great Fire. He lives in New Jersey. Visit his Web site at www.jimmurphybooks.com.