War reports—both fact and fiction—have fascinated people since the first warriors and bards sat around campfires. However, not all war literature is based on firsthand experience, some comes out of imagination.
One of America’s most prominent war novelists, Stephen Crane, wrote about war before he ever saw a battle. Crane’s short novel, The Red Badge of Courage, is the story of a young soldier’s reactions to fear during a major Civil War battle. It was written almost thirty years after the battle took place.
On the other hand, many of Ernest Hemingway’s novels and stories were based on his own experiences during World War I. Before the United States entered the war, Hemingway worked as an ambulance driver.
After World War II, writer John