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.” —Jorge Luis BorgesJoseph 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.