With an introduction and notes by Maria Couto

'The horror! The horror!' These words of a dying man embody the dominating concerns of this novel, considered one of Conrad's finest. As Marlowe's boat inches up the darkness of the Congo in an atmosphere of brooding menace, various kinds of horrors are explored and ambiguities revealed with savage irony.

This edition contains an Introduction which analyses issues explored in the novel. Several of these are the subject of current debate : colonial exploitation, the enterprise of 'civilizing' the people of Africa, the confusions inherent in the term 'civilization', and the dehumanizing self-delusions born of greed. A parallel discussion of themes and technique bring of life the world of Conrad's novels for the contemporary undergraduate or postgraduate student. While biographical, historical and literary contexts are discussed in the Introduction, the exhaustive Notes at the end clarify each difficult word or allusion.