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These five stories were collected and published as Tales of Unrest in 1898,shortly before Heart of Darkness, the fi rst of Conrads major novels. Rangingfrom the faraway and unfamiliar, where the acquisitiveness of colonial adventureis damningly exposed, to an ostensibly ordinary London household, thesedisparate tales display Conrads ability to explore and lay bare human nature.Set in Central Africa, An Outpost of Progress is suffused with irony and representsa ruthlessly mocking view of European imperialism. Karain and The Lagoonare exotic tales of the Malay Archipelago, with the former telling of disharmonyand discord between Western traders and the indigenous inhabitants. TheReturn recounts the story of, in the authors own words, a desirable middleclasstown residence which somehow manages to produce a sinister effect.The collection also includes The Idiots, the fi rst of Conrads short stories to beserialized in an English magazine.

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