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Content snapshot
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Violence
A lot
Civil War combat depicted with realism; deaths; the chaos and terror of battle
Language
Barely any
Mild language; period idiom
Sexual Content
None
No sexual content
Substance Use
None
No substance use
Emotional Intensity
Some
The psychological journey from self-deception to authentic courage under fire
What this book is about
Henry Fleming, a young Union soldier in the Civil War, has dreamed of heroic battle. When the fighting begins, he runs. The novel follows Henry's psychological journey from cowardice through the accidental acquisition of a 'red badge' (a wound) to a genuine, unpretentious courage in the novel's climactic battle. Crane wrote this at 22 without having seen combat—and somehow produced one of the most accurate accounts of war psychology ever written.
Notes for sensitive readers
Reader-flagged moments and themes that may affect your experience.
Civil War combat violence throughout
The psychology of fear and cowardice in war
Reader Verification
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