Joseph Conrad's compelling modernist masterpiece, now in the beautifully designed Penguin Clothbound Classics series. Heart of Darkness has been regarded as a literary classic for most of this century and also serves as a powerful indictment of the evils of imperialism. It reflects the brutal repressions inflicted by the Belgians in the Congo during one of the largest genocides up to that point. Conrad's narrator encounters a man named Kurtz at the end of the story, who is dying, mad, and responsible for unimaginable atrocities. What he witnesses on his journey and his ultimate encounter with Kurtz terrify and confuse him, calling into question the foundations of civilization and human nature.