Heart of Darkness

Heart of Darkness is Joseph Conrad's haunting Modernist masterpiece, now featured in the beautifully designed Penguin Clothbound Classics series.

Heart of Darkness has been considered for much of the twentieth century as a literary classic and a powerful indictment of the evils of imperialism. It reflects the savage repressions carried out in the Congo by the Belgians, representing one of the largest acts of genocide committed up to that time.

Conrad's narrator encounters a man named Kurtz at the end of the story. Kurtz is dying, insane, and guilty of unspeakable atrocities. What the narrator witnesses on his journey, and his eventual encounter with Kurtz, horrifies and perplexes him, calling into question the very foundations of civilisation and human nature.