$275. Near Fine Condition. Henry Fleming dreams of the thrill of battle and performing heroic deeds in the American Civil War. But his illusions are shattered when he comes face to face with the bloodshed and horrors of war.Henry Fleming, a raw Union Army recruit in the American Civil War, is anxious to confirm his patriotism and manhood-to earn his "badge of courage." But his dreams of heroism and invulnerability are soon shattered when he flees the Confederate enemy

$275. Illustrated by John Sloan. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott Company, 1901. Original red cloth decorated in silver and gilt. First Edition. Crane dreamed up the idea of dramatizing great battles as a money-making scheme: "such sure quick money," he wrote his agent Pinker. Crane was very familiar with recent battles: since 1895 he had been a war correspondent in Cuba and in Greece, and had just begun reporting on the Boer War when he died of consumption in mid-1900 (in the Black Forest, where he had gone to seek the cure). He chose battles for their "picturesque and theatric qualities." Kate Frederic, common-law wife of the writer Harold Frederic, actually did most of the research and much of the writing; she "felt indebted to the Cranes for providing a home for her children; she expected [and received] no acknowledgement for writing GREAT BATTLES" [Stallman]. The book was not published until after Crane's death, from consumption, in June 1900. This copy is in red cloth, with crossed swords in silver and gold; others were issued in blue-green, with no priority. It is in near-fine condition (spine very slightly dulled).