
At a Glance
Paperback
RRP $22.99
$22.90
Aims to ship in 5 to 10 business days
When will this arrive by?
Enter delivery postcode to estimate
The Secret Agent is Joseph Conrad''s dark satire on English society, edited with an introduction and notes by Michael Newton in Penguin Classics.
In the only novel Conrad set in London, The Secret Agent communicates a profoundly ironic view of human affairs. The story is woven around an attack on the Greenwich Observatory in 1894 masterminded by Verloc, a Russian spy working for the police, and ostensibly a member of an anarchist group in Soho. His masters instruct him to discredit the anarchists in a humiliating fashion, and when his evil plan goes horribly awry, Verloc must deal with the repercussions of his actions. While rooted in the Edwardian period, Conrad''s tale remains strikingly contemporary, with its depiction of Londoners gripped by fear of the terrorists living in their midst.
This edition of The Secret Agent contains a chronology, further reading, notes and maps of London and Greenwich. In his introduction, Michael Newton discusses London''s real-life world of political anarchy, and Conrad''s portrayal of the Verlocs'' marriage.
Joseph Conrad (1857-1924) was born in the Ukraine and grew up under Tsarist autocracy. After spending years in the French, and later the British Merchant Navy, Conrad left the sea to devote himself to writing. In 1896 he settled in Kent, where he produced within fifteen years such modern classics as Youth, Heart of Darkness, Lord Jim, Typhoon, Nostromo, The Secret Agent and Under Western Eyes.
If you enjoyed The Secret Agent, you might like Fyodor Dostoyevsky''s Demons, also available in Penguin Classics.
''A brilliant book, one of the greatest works of modern irony''
Malcolm Bradbury
Industry Reviews
"The Secret Agent is an altogether thrilling 'crime story' . . . a political novel of a foreign embassy intrigue and its tragic human outcome." --Thomas Mann
"One of Conrad's supreme masterpieces." --F. R. Leavis
"[The Secret Agent] was in effect the world's first political thriller--spies, conspirators, wily policemen, murders, bombings . . . Conrad was also giving artistic expression to his domestic anxieties--his overweight wife and problem child, his lack of money, his inactivity, his discomfort in London, his uneasiness in English society, his sense of exile, of being an alien . . . The novel has the perverse logic and derangement of a dream."
--from the Introduction to the Everyman's Library edition by Paul Theroux
ISBN: 9780141441580
ISBN-10: 0141441585
Series: Penguin Classics
Published: 24th September 2007
Format: Paperback
Language: English
Number of Pages: 320
Audience: General Adult
For Ages: 18+ years old
Publisher: Penguin UK
Country of Publication: GB
Edition Number: 1
Dimensions (cm): 1.9 x 12.8 x 19.6
Weight (kg): 0.24
Shipping
Standard Shipping | Express Shipping | |
---|---|---|
Metro postcodes: | $9.99 | $14.95 |
Regional postcodes: | $9.99 | $14.95 |
Rural postcodes: | $9.99 | $14.95 |
How to return your order
At Booktopia, we offer hassle-free returns in accordance with our returns policy. If you wish to return an item, please get in touch with Booktopia Customer Care.
Additional postage charges may be applicable.
Defective items
If there is a problem with any of the items received for your order then the Booktopia Customer Care team is ready to assist you.
For more info please visit our Help Centre.