The Historian's Red Badge of Courage: Reading Stephen Crane's Masterpiece as Social and Cultural History

by
Paul A. Cimbalaeditor

Paul A. Cimbala is professor of history at Fordham University, The Bronx, NY. He is author or coauthor of several texts on the American Civil War.

The Historian's Red Badge of Courage: Reading Stephen Crane's Masterpiece as Social and Cultural History

20200731

Praeger

Pages 370
Topics The Battlefield Experience;Civil War Memory;Civil War Soldiers' Lives;Perceptions of the Civil War During the Late Nineteenth Century;American History: Culture;The Arts: American Literature

Cite this eBook

  • eBook

    9781440854262

Description
Table of Contents

Table of Contents

The Historian's Red Badge of Courage: Reading Stephen Crane's Masterpiece as Social and Cultural History

Contributors: Cimbala, Paul;
Abstract:

For someone who did not actually fight in the American Civil War, Stephen Crane was extraordinarily accurate in his description of the psychological tension experienced by a youthful soldier grappling with his desire to act heroically, his fears, and redemption.

Stephen Crane's novel The Red Badge of Courage provides an extraordinary take on the battlefield experiences of a young soldier coming of age under extreme circumstances. His writing took place a generation after the war's conclusion, at a time when the entire nation was coming to grips with the meaning of the Civil War. It was during this time in the late nineteenth century that the battle over the memory of the war was taking place.

This new, annotated edition of the novel is designed to guide readers through references made through Crane's characters and how they reflect Civil War military experiences—specifically how "the youth's" experiences reflect the reality of the multi-day battle of Chancellorsville, which took place in Virginia beginning on May 1, 1863 and concluded on May 4 of the same year. The annotated text is preceded by introductory essays on Crane and on the Civil War. Crane's short story "The Veteran" is also included to allow readers to better understand the post-war lives of Civil War soldiers.


  • Explains key background information for better understanding The Red Badge of Courage
  • Includes introductory essays on Crane and on the Civil War
  • Provides the full text for both Red Badge and Crane's lesser-known short story "The Veteran" with comprehensive annotations that illuminate the links between the stories and their historical contexts

Editor(s): Cimbala, Paul;
SortTitle: historian's red badge of courage: reading stephen crane's masterpiece as social and cultural history
Author Info:
Paul A. Cimbalaeditor

Paul A. Cimbala is professor of history at Fordham University, The Bronx, NY. He is author or coauthor of several texts on the American Civil War.

eISBN-13: 9781440854262
Cover Image URL: ~~FreeAttachments/9781440854262.jpg
Print ISBN-13: 9781440854255
Imprint: Praeger
Pages: 370
Publication Date: 20200731
Series: The Historian's Annotated Classics