Tales of Unrest (Everyman's Library)

While these share some of the thematic preoccupations and settings of his famous later novels, the stories already demonstrate Conrad's innovative and dramatic power. Exploring themes of betrayal, fear, hope and return, this anthology brings together KARAIN: A MEMORY; THE IDIOTS; AN OUTPOST OF PROGRESS; THE RETURN and THE LAGOON. Following their magazine serialisation these made up Conrad's first collection of short stories in 1898, only three years after he abandoned the sea to write professionally.

Joseph Conrad was born Jozef Teodor Konrad Nalecz Korzeniowski, on December 3, 1857, in Russian-occupied Poland. His father, who was fighting for Polish independence, wrote a poem asking his son to remain "without land or love" as long as Poland was enslaved. Conrad went to sea at sixteen and and served fifteen years aboard English ships. He became the captain of his own ships, sailing to Asia and Africa. He took up writing at the age of 32. It did not come easy: English was his fourth language after Polish, Russian and French, but he wrote with depth and beauty seldom matched. He was offered knighthood, but declined. He died August 3, 1924.