The Shadow-Line »

Most readers know Joseph Conrad for creating Marlow's harrowing journey through the African Congo in Heart of Darkness. Conrad was adept at capturing the physical and cultural experiences he gleaned from 15 years at sea, but he also wrote political thrillers, essays, and plays based on his own short stories. His best works tend to be brief, but pack in a remarkable perspicacity about humanity's deepest faults.

In 1886 Polish-born Conrad became a British subject and obtained his master mariner's certificate. He obtained his first command on the Otago, and sailed for Bangkok. This experience helped provide material for his story "The Shadow Line" which wasn't written until much later at the beginning of World War I.