Summary of The Secret Agent
“The Secret Agent” is an early spy novel set in Victorian London in 1886. It follows Adolf Verloc, a seemingly ordinary shopkeeper in Soho who is secretly an agent for an unnamed foreign power – likely Russia. When Verloc is ordered by his handlers to bomb the Greenwich Observatory, in the hope of provoking the British government into cracking down on Ă©migrĂ© anarchists and socialists in London, the plan quickly unravels with devastating consequences.
Reasons to read The Secret Agent
“The Secret Agent” explores the threats posed by anarchism, communism, and terrorism in late 19th-century Europe. The story was partly inspired by a real terrorist attempt to bomb the Greenwich Observatory in 1894. Joseph Conrad was a British-Polish writer and one of the most distinguished novelists of his time. Other major works by Conrad are “Heart of Darkness”, “Lord Jim”, and “Nostromo”.
Setting: London (England, UK)
Original title: The Secret Agent
Year of publication: 1907
Nr of pages: 336
