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Conrad's Congo
In 1890, at the age of 33, Joseph Conrad fulfilled his childhood dream of visiting Central Africa when he became captain of a paddle-steamer on the Congo River, under the employ of the Société Anonyme Belge. However, as he would later write, in place of the dream came the realisation that the colonial enterprise was ‘the vilest scramble for loot that ever disfigured the history of human conscience and geographical exploration’. The journey was to profoundly affect him, both mentally and physically, for the rest of his life, proving formative in his development as a writer and the creation of Heart of Darkness.
It is a journey explored in this new exclusive collection from The Folio Society. Conrad’s ‘Up-river Book’, the ship’s log in which he recorded his six-week journey aboard the Roi des Belges, is central to this story, and is framed by his ‘Congo Diary’, recording the eight months he spent in the Congo Free State. Interspersed with these texts are his letters to family and friends. The short story, ‘An Outpost of Progress’, which foreshadows Conrad’s most ambitious and acclaimed work, and is the only other to draw directly on his experiences in the Congo, is also included. Two European men take charge of a trading station, puffed up with a sense of superiority, but regarded as ‘imbeciles’ by their superiors and oblivious to the simmering hatred of their conduit slave from Sierra Leone.
Two appendices provide additional context. One consists of testimonies on how the journey affected the course of Conrad's life, from writers including Bertrand Russell and Ford Madox Ford. The second is an extract from then British Consul Roger Casement's 1903 Congo Report, which documented the human rights abuses committed by the colonial administration. Conrad expert J. H. Stape, who advised on the compilation of this illuminating collection and provided linking passages, has written a new introduction, which sits alongside a preface by Adam Hochschild adapted from his bestselling history King Leopold's Ghost. Conrad's hand-drawn diagrams from his diary and the original 'Up-river Book' accompany a series of photographs from the archives at the Royal Museum for Central Africa in Tervuren, Belgium, which has an extensive collection of photographs of the Congo from the period that Conrad was there. One is an unusually clear image of the Roi des Belges; others provide disturbing insights into the brutality of the slave trade. The source material that forms this unique collection weaves together a remarkable story about the genius that would produce one of the 20th century's greatest works of fiction.
It is a journey explored in this new exclusive collection from The Folio Society. Conrad’s ‘Up-river Book’, the ship’s log in which he recorded his six-week journey aboard the Roi des Belges, is central to this story, and is framed by his ‘Congo Diary’, recording the eight months he spent in the Congo Free State. Interspersed with these texts are his letters to family and friends. The short story, ‘An Outpost of Progress’, which foreshadows Conrad’s most ambitious and acclaimed work, and is the only other to draw directly on his experiences in the Congo, is also included. Two European men take charge of a trading station, puffed up with a sense of superiority, but regarded as ‘imbeciles’ by their superiors and oblivious to the simmering hatred of their conduit slave from Sierra Leone.
Two appendices provide additional context. One consists of testimonies on how the journey affected the course of Conrad's life, from writers including Bertrand Russell and Ford Madox Ford. The second is an extract from then British Consul Roger Casement's 1903 Congo Report, which documented the human rights abuses committed by the colonial administration. Conrad expert J. H. Stape, who advised on the compilation of this illuminating collection and provided linking passages, has written a new introduction, which sits alongside a preface by Adam Hochschild adapted from his bestselling history King Leopold's Ghost. Conrad's hand-drawn diagrams from his diary and the original 'Up-river Book' accompany a series of photographs from the archives at the Royal Museum for Central Africa in Tervuren, Belgium, which has an extensive collection of photographs of the Congo from the period that Conrad was there. One is an unusually clear image of the Roi des Belges; others provide disturbing insights into the brutality of the slave trade. The source material that forms this unique collection weaves together a remarkable story about the genius that would produce one of the 20th century's greatest works of fiction.
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About the author
Joseph Conrad
3,211 books4,925 followersJoseph Conrad was a Polish-British novelist and story writer. He is regarded as one of the greatest writers in the English language and, although he did not speak English fluently until his twenties, he became a master prose stylist who brought a non-English sensibility into English literature. He wrote novels and stories, many in nautical settings, that depict crises of human individuality in the midst of what he saw as an indifferent, inscrutable, and amoral world.
Conrad is considered a literary impressionist by some and an early modernist by others, though his works also contain elements of 19th-century realism. His narrative style and anti-heroic characters, as in Lord Jim, for example, have influenced numerous authors. Many dramatic films have been adapted from and inspired by his works. Numerous writers and critics have commented that his fictional works, written largely in the first two decades of the 20th century, seem to have anticipated later world events.
Writing near the peak of the British Empire, Conrad drew on the national experiences of his native Poland—during nearly all his life, parceled out among three occupying empires—and on his own experiences in the French and British merchant navies, to create short stories and novels that reflect aspects of a European-dominated world—including imperialism and colonialism—and that profoundly explore the human psyche.
Conrad is considered a literary impressionist by some and an early modernist by others, though his works also contain elements of 19th-century realism. His narrative style and anti-heroic characters, as in Lord Jim, for example, have influenced numerous authors. Many dramatic films have been adapted from and inspired by his works. Numerous writers and critics have commented that his fictional works, written largely in the first two decades of the 20th century, seem to have anticipated later world events.
Writing near the peak of the British Empire, Conrad drew on the national experiences of his native Poland—during nearly all his life, parceled out among three occupying empires—and on his own experiences in the French and British merchant navies, to create short stories and novels that reflect aspects of a European-dominated world—including imperialism and colonialism—and that profoundly explore the human psyche.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
March 20, 2016
I’ve decided to re-read Heart of Darkness this year, but not to read it as a stand alone or in a vacuum. Firstly I’m going to read some contemporary material, from Conrad himself and from Henry Stanley. I also intend to read Chinua Achebe’s critique of Heart of Darkness. This book is a collection of writings and letters relating to Conrad’s own trip down the Congo in 1890.
It contains letters to family and friends relating to the trip and some family matters. There are later letters relating to his trip and his writing about the Congo; most interesting are some letters to Roger Casement concerning his ground-breaking report on conditions in the Congo. Casement, before the English hung him for treason in 1916 (for supporting and working for Irish independence) spent time as a diplomat and consul and did a good deal of work to expose colonial abuses. One thing Conrad recalls about Casement is him walking about in the jungle in a white linen jacket and white tennis shoes and a walking stick; one of the few Europeans to travel unarmed. There is Conrad’s Congo diary and his up-river book. The latter is a technical diary about how to navigate the Congo River and might be interesting if you know how to pilot a river steamer. There is also an early short story set in the area called “An Outpost of Progress”
In an Appendix there are recollections of Conrad by some of those who knew him. The most interesting part of the collection is the final Appendix which contains information from Roger Casement’s 1903 report on conditions in the Congo. Conrad had met Casement during his time in the Congo and they shared a room for a brief period.
The last part of the nineteenth century saw colonialism concentrate on the African continent and there was a scramble to claim territory. The Belgian King, Leopold, decided he needed to be part of this and claimed a very large tract of land around the Congo River (it was more complex than that) and instead of it becoming a colony of Belgium, it was his own personal possession, a fiefdom to exploit for rubber and ivory. Casement’s report, which foreshadows much of today’s reportage outlines some of the types and nature of what occurred and what can only be called genocide. Casement estimates that over three million people were victims of Leopold’s regime; it is likely to have been many more.
Conrad is rather elusive, even his biographer admits this. It must be remembered that English was Conrad’s third language and he himself was an orphan. He felt he had been adopted by English and had found a home in the British merchant navy. It is clear that a sense of belonging was important to him and he developed an attachment for which he seems to have been seeking.
Conrad was profoundly affected by his time in the Congo and he later referred to the scramble for Africa as;
“the vilest scramble for loot that ever disfigured the history of human conscience.”
He saw the brutality of Leopold’s regime and decided not to see out his full contract, leaving the Congo disillusioned and with malaria. This is the background to the writing of Heart of Darkness. However what becomes clear reading this is that Conrad was critical of colonialism as he saw it in the Congo, not of colonialism per se. He felt the British did it better and more humanely (oh dear).
Bertrand Russell made a perceptive comment about Conrad. Russell felt that Heart of Darkness reflected Conrad’s philosophy of life;
“he thought of civilised and morally tolerable human life as a dangerous walk on a thin crust of barely cooled lava which at any moment might break and let the unwary sink into fiery depths. He was very conscious of the various forms of passionate madness to which men are prone, and it was this that gave him such a profound belief in the importance of discipline… subduing wayward impulse to dominant purpose.”
Russell is a more dispassionate observer, coming for a very different part of the political spectrum to Conrad.
This is a diverse and variable collection, very much rescued by Roger Casement’s report, but what does become clear is that Conrad’s experiences in the Congo had a profound effect on him. However he perceived the problem to be with the way colonialism was done rather than arguing colonialism was the problem.
It contains letters to family and friends relating to the trip and some family matters. There are later letters relating to his trip and his writing about the Congo; most interesting are some letters to Roger Casement concerning his ground-breaking report on conditions in the Congo. Casement, before the English hung him for treason in 1916 (for supporting and working for Irish independence) spent time as a diplomat and consul and did a good deal of work to expose colonial abuses. One thing Conrad recalls about Casement is him walking about in the jungle in a white linen jacket and white tennis shoes and a walking stick; one of the few Europeans to travel unarmed. There is Conrad’s Congo diary and his up-river book. The latter is a technical diary about how to navigate the Congo River and might be interesting if you know how to pilot a river steamer. There is also an early short story set in the area called “An Outpost of Progress”
In an Appendix there are recollections of Conrad by some of those who knew him. The most interesting part of the collection is the final Appendix which contains information from Roger Casement’s 1903 report on conditions in the Congo. Conrad had met Casement during his time in the Congo and they shared a room for a brief period.
The last part of the nineteenth century saw colonialism concentrate on the African continent and there was a scramble to claim territory. The Belgian King, Leopold, decided he needed to be part of this and claimed a very large tract of land around the Congo River (it was more complex than that) and instead of it becoming a colony of Belgium, it was his own personal possession, a fiefdom to exploit for rubber and ivory. Casement’s report, which foreshadows much of today’s reportage outlines some of the types and nature of what occurred and what can only be called genocide. Casement estimates that over three million people were victims of Leopold’s regime; it is likely to have been many more.
Conrad is rather elusive, even his biographer admits this. It must be remembered that English was Conrad’s third language and he himself was an orphan. He felt he had been adopted by English and had found a home in the British merchant navy. It is clear that a sense of belonging was important to him and he developed an attachment for which he seems to have been seeking.
Conrad was profoundly affected by his time in the Congo and he later referred to the scramble for Africa as;
“the vilest scramble for loot that ever disfigured the history of human conscience.”
He saw the brutality of Leopold’s regime and decided not to see out his full contract, leaving the Congo disillusioned and with malaria. This is the background to the writing of Heart of Darkness. However what becomes clear reading this is that Conrad was critical of colonialism as he saw it in the Congo, not of colonialism per se. He felt the British did it better and more humanely (oh dear).
Bertrand Russell made a perceptive comment about Conrad. Russell felt that Heart of Darkness reflected Conrad’s philosophy of life;
“he thought of civilised and morally tolerable human life as a dangerous walk on a thin crust of barely cooled lava which at any moment might break and let the unwary sink into fiery depths. He was very conscious of the various forms of passionate madness to which men are prone, and it was this that gave him such a profound belief in the importance of discipline… subduing wayward impulse to dominant purpose.”
Russell is a more dispassionate observer, coming for a very different part of the political spectrum to Conrad.
This is a diverse and variable collection, very much rescued by Roger Casement’s report, but what does become clear is that Conrad’s experiences in the Congo had a profound effect on him. However he perceived the problem to be with the way colonialism was done rather than arguing colonialism was the problem.
June 14, 2022
Joseph Conrad spent several months in the Belgian Congo in 1890; his experiences there became the basis for his masterpiece “Heart of Darkness”. This book collects documents and letters by Conrad and others, including an early short story set in the Congo—all providing a background and context for his later work.
December 31, 2017
This book sets a background to other works by Conrad. It gives you insight into how and why he ended up contracted to command a boat on the Congo. That he never achieved this is probably down to the failings of the people he met and worked with in his short time in Africa rather than in his willingness and abilities. In giving detailed accounts of a trek to the river trading post and the detail of how to navigate the river he gives the reader insight into how wild and hazardous this country was. This book is scattered with evidence of the poor administration, government and order that existed in a land that broke many white men rather than them mastering the climate, land or the people.It is really a reference book of Conrad's contact with the dark continent and is worth reading before you read Heart of Darkness.
It also gives you insight into society and family in the late 19th and early 20th century.
Overall not a fantastic read but still worth the effort to help understand the Belgium hand in colonial exploitation.
It also gives you insight into society and family in the late 19th and early 20th century.
Overall not a fantastic read but still worth the effort to help understand the Belgium hand in colonial exploitation.
December 18, 2025
This is not a romance of deepest, darkest Africa. it's a first person deeply considered observation of one of the darkest periods in modern European history. in addition to Conrad's letters and story, there's a lengthy appendix of his colleague Roger Casement's deeply researched report on corruption, maladministration, and brutality in French and Belgian Colonial Africa. it's well written by all of the principal writers, but a devastatingly hard read.
this should be required reading for college students.
this should be required reading for college students.
July 6, 2023
Would have benefited from including Heart of Darkness as an edition but plenty of interest in terms of the crimes of European imperialism.
Not sure the navigation notes offer much help if you are using this to recreate the journey up river
Not sure the navigation notes offer much help if you are using this to recreate the journey up river
October 8, 2021
Exploitation in Africa
The core of this book consists of Joseph Conrad's diaries and letters from his time as a ship master on the Congo River in 1890. As such it is a good idea, particularly if one is concerned with the origin of his most famous book, The Heart of Darkness, published a few years later. Yet, the original content is quite limited, so the editor has supplemented the book with a number of other letters, memoirs and a short story. Most are related to Conrad's support for the fight against Leopold II's private exploitation of the Congolese. Especially worth reading, however, is the investigation report written by the British-Irish diplomat Roger Casement in 1903. It documents the abuses perpetrated by the Belgians in the Congo. Not least, Casement reports the voices of the Congolese themselves. The report greatly contributed to King Leopold having to relinquish his "free state" in 1908.
The core of this book consists of Joseph Conrad's diaries and letters from his time as a ship master on the Congo River in 1890. As such it is a good idea, particularly if one is concerned with the origin of his most famous book, The Heart of Darkness, published a few years later. Yet, the original content is quite limited, so the editor has supplemented the book with a number of other letters, memoirs and a short story. Most are related to Conrad's support for the fight against Leopold II's private exploitation of the Congolese. Especially worth reading, however, is the investigation report written by the British-Irish diplomat Roger Casement in 1903. It documents the abuses perpetrated by the Belgians in the Congo. Not least, Casement reports the voices of the Congolese themselves. The report greatly contributed to King Leopold having to relinquish his "free state" in 1908.
May 26, 2025
This book is a collection of letters, diaries, articles and a short story by Joseph Conrad relating his trip to the Belgian Congo in 1890 which led to the writing of Heart Of Darkness. It also contains the report by Roger Casement to the British Foreign Office on the conditions in the Belgian Congo and the appalling treatment of the native population in what was effectively a slave colony personally owned by the King Of Belgium. This is not for the faint hearted as the detailed descriptions of torture and mutilation are very shocking. A must read for anyone interested in Conrad, The Heart Of Darkness or Apocalypse Now.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews