This is the fourth of the eight volumes of a widely acclaimed edition comprising all the surviving letters of Joseph Conrad. It covers the period during which he wrote Under Western Eyes, and the mental and physical breakdown that followed the novel's completion. The tale of these years emerges vividly from the correspondence. Of special interest are frank critiques of John Galsworthy's work, an indignant falling out with Ford Madox Ford, revealing accounts of his writing in progress, and reactions to the tumultuous politics of the day.

"This is the second of the projected eight-volume edition comprising all the surviving letters of Joseph Conrad. Once completed the edition will have assembled over 3,500 letters, one third of them as yet unpublished and many others only published before in inaccurate versions. The period covered by this volume, 1898-1902, was one of considerable achievement and anxiety for Conrad. The birth of his first child, the death of Stephen Crane, the murder of a friend's son, an encounter with an early X-ray machine, imperial wars in Cuba and South Africa - these events forced Conrad to face the problems of identity in terms of family, nation, history, and the cosmic order. This is also the period of 'Youth', 'Amy Foster', 'Typhoon', Lord Jim, and 'Heart of Darkness'. Often funny, always thoughtful, full of verbal energy even in the toils of severe depression, the letters in Volume Two present Conrad at a crucial though vulnerable moment of his life and literary career."--Publisher's description of v. 2

The first of a projected eight-volume edition of all the surviving letters of Joseph Conrad. Volume One opens with a child, not yet four, writing to comfort his imprisoned father and closes with an author, exile, and master mariner just turned forty.