Taking place during the American Civil War, this novel is about a young private of the Union Army, Henry Fleming, who flees from the field of battle.

The story centers on Maggie, a young girl from the Bowery, in New York City. She is seduced by one of her brother's friends, and is seen as effectively ruined. She ends up alone, driven to prostitution by poverty and abuse. Crane's naturalistic style allowed him to write about class, alcoholism, hypocrisy, determinism, and gender and sexuality in ways that were not common in the literature of the time. Maggie: A Girl of the Streets was considered risqué by publishers because of its literary realism and strong themes. Crane - who was 22 years old at the time - financed the book's publication himself, although the original 1893 edition was printed under the pseudonym Johnston Smith. After the success of 1895's The Red Badge of Courage, Maggie was reissued in 1896 with considerable changes and re-writing. Maggie is generally considered by critics to be the first work of American literary Naturalism. This case laminate collector's edition includes a Victorian-inspired dust jacket.

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