With virtually the entire world constantly threatened with war, Stephen Crane's masterpiece becomes even more timely than it ever has been. Its unforgettable story of the individual soldier in the stress of actual battle has never been surpassed, and its truth and reality are just as gripping under the conditions of aerial and tank warfare today as they were under the circumstances of musket and cavalry charges of the Civil War. The Red Badge of Courage is a notable addition to the Modern Library because of all war books it remains through the years one of the most permanent.