One of Conrad's two supreme masterpieces. ane of the unquestionable classics of the first order that he added to the English novel-F. R. Leavis in The Great Tradition
Although some critics would dispute this claim, there is no doubt that The Secret Agent, like Nostromo, achieves powerful effects with an irony which is neightened by the employment of bold time-shifts in the narration. The story, which is whaily fictional, had its germ in an actual attempt, made in 1894, to blow up Greenwich Observatory, and Conrad exhibits the rather repulsive profiles of the terrorists and anarchists involved in scorn as well as in pity. The indolent anarchist. Mr Verloc, his wife. Winnie; the tough diplomat. Mr Vladimir, and the old police hand. Heal, are characters to rank with Conrad's best
The cover, designed by Germano Facetti, shows a detail from "Hampstead Hill (1883), by John Atkinson Grimshaw, in the Femers Gallery
Foxing present
BBCL

Condition: Fair