World famous at twenty-four, brilliant, reckless, and ultimately tragic, Stephen Crane is a dramatic study in contradictions. His most famous work, THE RED BADGE OF COURAGE, is a classic antiwar novel, yet Crane himself longed for military honors. The son of a Methodist minister, he used his literary stature to help defend a prostitute, ruining his reputation and costing him the friendship of Theodore Roosevelt. An easterner who fancied himself a cowboy, he spent his last years on a ramshackle estate in England entertaining the leading writers of the time. Until now, his life has been shrouded in misconception and myth. In this in-depth biography, Davis vividly describes Crane's short but fascinating life and assesses the full extent of his literary contribution. "Ms. Davis's life of Crane, initially inspired by curiosity and fueled by increasing admiration for the man and his work, is what a life should be - well-written, fair minded, and spirited." (Atlantic Monthly)