Youth, Heart of Darkness, the End of the Tether

"Serialized in Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine during the period 1398-1902, 'Youth', leant of Darkness' and 'The h.I of the Tether' make up the contents of Conrad's most celebrated collection of short narratives, first published in a single volume in 1902. 'Heart of Darkness' forms its sombre centrepiece: set in the Congo of the 1890s, this haunting and widely influential Modernist masterpiece explores the limits of human experience as well as the nightmarish realities and consequences of imperialism." "The 'Introduction' situates the stories within the context of Conrad's relationship with the Blackwood publishing firm, traces their sources, lays out the evolution of the volume and surveys its subsequent reception. The 'Explanatory Notes' elucidate literary, historical and geographical references, and supply other contextual materials, A glossary of nautical terms further enriches the explanatory matter, as do maps and illustrations. 'Ube essay on the texts in combination with the comprehensive apparatus lays out the history of each story's composition, revision and publication, detailing interventions in the text by Conrad's typists, compositors and editors." "Based upon a painsta