Many of us remember reading The Red Badge of Courage in middle school. At the time, it may have seemed like a slog, but as you get older books have a habit of changing. That is, parts of The Red Badge of Courage do stick with me, such as the emotional depth of the novel. As it stands, Stephen Crane is a masterful writer, and he fits right into the realm of literary realism. In this post, we will take a brief look at his life and times.