num_pages: 197
description: In the back streets of nineteenth-century London, a group of revolutionaries plot an incident intended to turn English complacency on its ear. Their the destruction of one of the nation's proudest monuments of scientific achievement, the Greenwich Observatory. Unbeknownst to the schemers, however, their ringleader is an agent provocateur, driven by a complex array of ambiguous motives and conflicting loyalties.As this masterpiece of atmospheric realism and psychological depth unfolds, readers will savor the ironic narrative technique for which Conrad is justly famed, as well as the compelling characterizations that breathe life into his Adolph Verloc, proprietor of an obscure Soho shop, whose double life encompasses a quiet family circle, friendship with a band of anarchists, and allegiance to a foreign government; Verloc's wife, Winnie, whose desperation to maintain a home for her simple-minded brother overrules her suspicions about her husband's activities; and Stevie, the man-child whose innocence proves the means of his undoing.One of the first and greatest espionage thrillers, The Secret Agent remains as engrossing and effective as when it was first published in 1907.
language: English
title: The Secret Agent
titlecomplete: The Secret Agent
characters: Karl Yundt, Stevie, Winnie Verloc, Chief Inspector Heat, Mr. Vladimir, Adolf Verloc, Comrade Alexander Ossipon, the Assistant Commissioner, Sir Ethelred, Michaelis
genres: Fiction, Mystery, Thriller, British Literature, Literature, Classics, Novels, 20th Century, Espionage, Crime
ratings_count: 22115
places: London, England
publisher: Dover Publications