The Red Badge of Courage is an intriguing story featuring views from every perspective of the Civil War. Stephen Crane does a phenomenal job of displaying vivid descriptions of peaceful scenery that later encounter intense battles.

The story begins when a young boy from Virginia named Henry Fleming decides he would like to join the army and fight in the Civil War. At first Henry is led on to believe that war life is easy. He would only march around with his squad and eat. Henry later learns that he has never experienced anything close to war in his life and fear takes the better of him when encountering his first actual battle. Throughout the book, Henry must first overcome fear, then faces other obstacles along the way like the death of friends and trying to become a war hero.

This Civil War novel goes into great detail over the Battle of Chancellorsville by describing the expressions and emotions of the men while also featuring the tragedies of war. The Red Badge of Courage is one of the best Civil War books ever because it truly brings the reader into the mind of a young, inexperienced soldier back fighting in the Civil War.