Taking place during the American Civil War, the story is about a young private of the Union Army, Henry Fleming, who flees from the field of battle. Overcome with shame, he longs for a wound, a "red badge of courage", to counteract his cowardice. When his regiment once again faces the enemy, Henry acts as flag-bearer, carrying the regimental colors.

Stephen Crane's classic 1895 Civil War novel continues to be read, studied, and discussed, generation after generation. Its searing images of war, destruction, and fear endure in the collective American mind. This Fourth Edition of the Norton Critical Edition of The Red Badge of Courage is again based on the 1895 first edition, published by D. Appleton & Co., conservatively amended and accompanied by explanatory annotations. Crane's uncanceled but unpublished manuscript passages, including his discarded Chapter XII, are reprinted in the Textual Appendix.