First published 1895
Henry Fleming enlists in the Union Army with dreams of glory, but when his regiment finally marches toward battle, doubt creeps in. Will he stand and fight, or will he run when the bullets start flying? As the 304th New York Regiment advances through the Virginia wilderness, Henry wrestles with his fears while shells explode around him. The romanticized war he imagined crumbles as he witnesses the brutal reality of combat at Chancellorsville. When his moment of testing arrives, Henry must confront not just Confederate soldiers, but his own cowardice and shame. Through smoke and chaos, he discovers what courage really means and what it costs to earn the red badge that marks a true soldier.
Genres: american-fiction, historical-fiction, 20th-century, military-fiction, 19th-century, american-history
Vibes: emotional, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: coming-of-age, fish-out-of-water
Setting: Virginia, Chancellorsville
Period: American Civil War
379 pages · Paperback · W W Norton & Co Inc
Content warnings: violence