Conrad

This first paperback edition (1988) by Thames and Hudson presents Norman Sherry's critical biography of Joseph Conrad. Sherry's work illuminates Conrad's complex life as a seafarer turned novelist and his lasting impact on modern literature.

The biography combines literary analysis with biographical research to present a comprehensive portrait of Conrad's life and work. Sherry explores Conrad's Polish background, maritime career, and transformation into one of English literature's most important modernist writers. The work examines how Conrad's personal experiences shaped his literary vision and narrative techniques.

Sherry's biography established itself as the definitive study of Conrad's life and work, influencing subsequent Conrad scholarship and general understanding of the author's achievement. The work demonstrated how biographical research could illuminate literary analysis without reducing art to autobiography.

Norman Sherry spent years retracing Conrad's travels and researching his maritime career, providing unprecedented accuracy in Conrad biography. His work helped dispel myths about Conrad while revealing the real experiences that inspired his fiction. The biography's publication coincided with renewed critical interest in Conrad's political and psychological insights.