Books with title The Secret Agent::Simple

The Secret Agent was one of the first espionage novels ever written, and it is certainly one of the finest in the oeuvre of Joseph Conrad. The story concerns the attempt by a group of back-alley revolutionaries to destroy one of London's most famous landmarks and thereby set off a revolution. As the plot unfolds, we discover a cast of unlikely villains, self-aggrandizing intellectuals, overeager bureaucrats, fame hungry politicians, and innocent bystanders, all described with poignant psychological depth as only Conrad could. The story centers around Adolph Verloc, owner of a Soho bookshop and ostensibly a member of a group of home-grown anarchists, but actually in the pay of a foreign government. Verloc's quiescent wife, Winnie, maintains their stable household in which she tries to provide for her retarded brother and her aging mother under the thinly disguised irritability of her husband. The anarchist collective consists of "Doctor" Ossipan, who lives off his romantic attachments to women barely able to take care of themselves; "The Professor", an explosives expert who is so insecure that he is perpetually wired with a detonator in case he is threatened by police capture; and Michaelis, a corpulent writer composing an autobiography after a mitigated sentence in prison. This production includes a brilliant introduction by Thomas Korzeniowski, a distant relative of Conrad (whose real Polish name was Josef Konrad Korzeniowski). It is not only a fitting tribute to his renowned predecessor, but a very insightful look into the man and his work.

A classic and thrilling tale of espionage and murder, Joseph Conrad’s “The Secret Agent” was first published in 1907. Set in London in 1886, the novel centers around Mr. Adolf Verloc, a spy who owns a small shop and lives with his wife Winnie, her mother and her mentally disabled brother Stevie, above his business. He is also a member of a largely ineffectual anarchist group, whom he meets with regularly to discuss politics and produce anarchist literature. Unknown to his fellow anarchists, Verloc is secretly working for the Embassy of an unnamed country as an “agent provocateur.” Verloc is told by his government contact that he and his associates are to bomb the Greenwich Observatory in London in order to make the British see anarchism as a greater threat and work more actively to suppress it. In scenes alternating between both before and after the bombing, the novel follows the police investigation of the bombing and the family drama unfolding in Verloc’s own home, as Stevie’s inadvertent involvement in the bombing comes to light. Considered to be one of Conrad’s best works, as well as a prescient study of modern terrorism, it is also a searing and tragic story of family love and loyalty. This edition includes a biographical afterword.

The book tells the story of Mr. Adolf Verloc and his work as a spy against Britain. Verloc is a businessman who owns a shop which sells pornographic material, contraceptives and bric-a-brac. His friends are a group of anarchists of which Comrade Ossipon, Michaelis, and "The Professor" are the most prominent. The group produces anarchist literature in the form of pamphlets entitled F.P. – The Future of the Proletariat. Although a member of an anarchist cell, Verloc is also secretly employed by the embassy of a foreign country, but Mr. Vladimir, the new First Secretary in the Embassy is not satisfied with Verloc's contribution. In order to redeem himself, Verloc must carry out an operation – the destruction of Greenwich Observatory by a bomb.

Set in London in 1886, the novel follows the life of Adolf Verloc, a secret agent. Verloc is also a businessman who owns a shop which sells pornographic material, contraceptives and bric-a-brac. He lives with his wife Winnie, his mother-in-law, and his brother-in-law, Stevie. Stevie has a mental disability, possibly autism, which causes him to be excitable; his sister, Verloc’s wife, attends to him, treating him more as a son than as a brother. Verloc’s friends are a group of anarchists of which Comrade Ossipon, Michaelis, and “The Professor” are the most prominent. Although largely ineffectual as terrorists, their actions are known to the police. The group produces anarchist literature in the form of pamphlets entitled F.P., an acronym for The Future of the Proletariat.Writing near the peak of the British Empire, Conrad drew, among other things, on his native Poland’s national experiences and on his own experiences in the French and British merchant navies, to create short stories and novels that reflect aspects of a European-dominated world—including imperialism and colonialism—and that profoundly explore the human psyche.

The story is set in London in 1886 and deals largely with the life of Mr. Verloc and his job as a spy. The Secret Agent is notable as one of Conrad's later political novels, which move away from his typical tales of seafaring. The novel deals broadly with the notions of anarchism, espionage, and terrorism and depicts the type of anarchist and revolutionary groups which sprouted up before many of the social uprisings of the early twentieth century.

Inspired by an attempt in 1894 to blow up London’s Greenwich Observatory, The Secret Agent is the unsurpassed original of the long tradition of espionage thrillers that explore the confused motives at the heart of terrorism. Published in 1907, Joseph Conrad’s novel was remarkably prescient, anticipating the political contours of the next century, as well as the classic spy novels of such later writers as Graham Greene and John Le Carré. Conrad’s double agent, Verloc, is a Russian spy tasked with infiltrating an anarchist group in London. His mission to discredit the ineffectual radicals and their cause goes awry, and involves his unsuspecting wife and her vulnerable younger brother in disastrous ways. In its use of powerful psychological insight to intensify narrative suspense, The Secret Agent broke new literary ground. Conrad was the first novelist to discover the strange, in-between territory of the political exile, and his genius was such that we still have no truer map of that region’s moral terrain than his story of a terrorist plot and its tragic consequences for both the guilty and the innocent.Introduction by Paul Theroux(Book Jacket Status: Not Jacketed).

A chilling tale of espionage and terrorism by a literary master. On the surface, Adolf Verloc is a bookstore owner in London. Beneath his carefully crafted persona, dwells a spy for a foreign government. When his handlers decide it's time for action, Verloc is tasked with blowing up the Royal Observatory. This modern novel is still as fresh and relevant as ever and makes an exciting and though-provoking read.Xist Publishing is a digital-first publisher. Xist Publishing creates books for the touchscreen generation and is dedicated to helping everyone develop a lifetime love of reading, no matter what form it takes Get your next Xist Classic title for Kindle here: http://amzn.to/1A7cKKl Find all our our books for Kindle here: http://amzn.to/1PooxLl Sign up for the Xist Publishing Newsletter here. Find more great titles on our website.