One of the great war novels, The Red Badge of Courage describes the first experience of front-line combat through the eyes of a young recruit, Henry Fleming, in one of the battles of the American Civil War. Under the stress of battle, Fleming is forced to face strong, conflicting emotions, ranging from bravado to terror as the conflict ebbs and flows. Written some 30 years after the war, when Stephen Crane was only in his mid-20s, its inimitable truth makes it just as relevant today.