Penguin 3 (Pre-int): The Secret Agent

In The Secret Agent (1907) a triangle of conspiracy is built, then destroyed, by the self-interest of its participants. Mr. Verloc, employed by a foreign embassy to incriminate an anarchist group, instead destroys his family, his illusions, and his own life in a terrorist act gone utterly wrong. Conrad's ironic and troubling novel exposes political extremism and the strength-and vanity-of illusion. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.