Conrad, Joseph Edited by Harkness, Bruce Edited by Reid, S. W.

The Secret Agent, A Simple Tale

      Cambridge University Press 1990 - (469 pages) The Secret Agent (1907) is a compelling tale of espionage and terrorism set in Edwardian London. This new edition is based on a painstaking comparison of the original manuscript of the work.The Secret Agent (1907) is a compelling tale of espionage and terrorism set in Edwardian London. This new edition is based on a painstaking comparison of the original manuscript of the work.The Secret Agent (1907) is a compelling tale of espionage and terrorism set in Edwardian London. Ironically subtitled ‘A Simple Tale’, it paints a terrifying portrait of revolutionaries and anarchists whose personal lives are as barren and futile as their public acts of violence. It concludes with the unwitting accomplice of a would-be terrorist blowing himself to bits with his own bomb, the terrorist's subsequent murder by his own wife, and the wife’s own suicide. This new edition is based on a painstaking comparison of the original manuscript of the work. The result is a new text, purged of the printers’ errors and editorial interventions that have been reproduced in all previous printings. There is also a critical introduction, an essay on the text, a textual apparatus, and helpful explanatory notes.The Secret Agent (1907) is a compelling tale of espionage and terrorism set in Edwardian London. Ironically subtitled ‘A Simple Tale’, it paints a terrifying portrait of revolutionaries and anarchists whose personal lives are as barren and futile as their public acts of violence. It concludes with the unwitting accomplice of a would-be terrorist blowing himself to bits with his own bomb, the terrorist’s subsequent murder by his own wife, and the wife’s own suicide. This new edition is based on a painstaking comparison of the original manuscript of the work with its first, truncated appearance in the American magazine Ridgeway’s: A Militant Weekly for God and Country, and with all subsequent book-form publications overseen by Conrad himself. The result is a new text, purged of the printers’ errors and editorial interventions that have been reproduced in all previous printings. There is also a critical introduction, an essay on the text, a textual apparatus, and helpful explanatory notes. (Hardback) [Attributes: Hard Cover]