Heart of Darkness and the Complete Congo Diary

Joseph Conrad (1857-1924) was a Polish-born English novelist, whose work, most famously Heart of Darkness, took a cynical view of imperialism when the British Empire was at its apogee.

On a boat in the Thames estuary, Marlow tells his travelling companions of his reconnaissance expedition for a Belgian trading company to its most remote outpost in central Africa, which brought him on the trail of the elusive Kurtz, a brilliant idealist gone rogue. His account relates not only the perils he encounters on his quest, but also the deterioration of his state of mind as he is confronted with a world that is hostile and alien to him.

Renowned for its stylistic boldness and dramatic descriptions, Heart of Darkness is a stark yet subtle examination of the powers of the subconscious and the workings of western imperialism.

Perhaps the most haunting story that human imagination has ever achieved.