A novel by Joseph Conrad, it was first published in 1907 and is set in London in 1886. It largely deals with the life of a Mr. Verloc, who is a spy. The novel deals with terrorism, espionage and anarchism. Verloc owns and runs a shop which sells pornographic material and contraceptives, this is a cover for his espionage, the target for the group is to blow up the Greenwich Observatory. This novel was ranked in the top 50 of the 20th Century Modern Library.
