64 b&w and 4 line illus.; 800pp, 978 1 571 13347 2
£30.00 / US $49.95
Imprint: Camden House

Words of praise for new edition of Joseph Conrad: A Life, by Zdzislaw Najder:

“When I reviewed the first English edition of this book in 1984, I called it ‘the richest and most persuasive portrait of Conrad we have had or will probably ever have.’ Happily, however, the author hasn’t rested on his laurels. Once again, Professor Najder sets the very highest biographical standard. Everything that has come to light about Conrad during the past quarter-century is now seamlessly integrated into the revised text. Many facts are new, but Najder’s perspective remains unchanged — because, quite simply, he got it exactly right the first time.” — FREDERICK CREWS

“When Zdzislaw Najder’s biography of Conrad first appeared in the early eighties, it immediately became the best, fullest and most reliable account of the novelist’s life to date. The present revised edition … continues to hold this position of pre-eminence and, in all likelihood, will do so for many years to come…. Najder combines factual accuracy and thoroughness with a striving for objectivity; while his consummate grounding in the three cultures — Polish, French, and English — from which Conrad’s work emerges enables him to provide background information crucial for a full understanding and appreciation of Conrad’s writings. Moreover, Najder’s systematic confrontation of documented reality with Conrad’s mythologized versions of his own life not only gives us a clearer picture of the historical Conrad but throws valuable light on the structure of his mind and imagination.” — ANDRZEJ BUSZA, Associate Professor Emeritus, University of British Columbia
 

“The revisions to Zdzislaw Najder’s Joseph Conrad further strengthen what was already the indispensable biography. The revisions are extensive and substantial, incorporating not only Najder’s own discoveries but those by such distinguished scholars as Andrew Busza, J. H. Stape, the late Sylvère Monod, and the late Hans van Marle.”— LAURENCE DAVIES, University of Glasgow, General Editor of Conrad’s Collected Letters

A major work of literary scholarship.
Edward Said, THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW

The richest and most persuasive portrait of Conrad we have had or will probably ever have, created by a man who is uniquely placed to understand Conrad’s divided cultural loyalties and who has devoted the greater part of his scholarly career to the task.
Frederick Crews, THE NEW YORK REVIEW OF BOOKS

The fullest and perhaps the most clear-eyed biography of Conrad to date.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

The book contains a strong, coherent and convincing picture of Conrad the man—a picture which...amounts to being the first complete portrait of this great writer; and this will surely find growing recognition.
IAN WATT

Lucidly and stylishly presents the sweep of the entire life and career of its subject in terms of a comprehensive interpretation of the man; and it offers considerable amounts of strikingly new information.
DAVID LEON HIGDON

Najder’s systematic confrontation of documented reality with Conrad’s mythologized versions of his own life not only gives us a clearer picture of the historical Conrad but throws valuable light on the structure of his mind and imagination.
ANDREW BUSZA