On the occasion of the centenary of Joseph Conrad's birth in December I857 Penguinguin Books are issuing two of his novels Under Western Eyes is a story of revolutionarit

lutionalists set in Switzerland and Russia An atmosphere of ominous suspense hangs over this narrative of plot and counterplot loyalty and betrayal.

Conrad's intention was to render not so much the political but the psychological state of Russia in 1911. The various characters owe their existence to the condition of

Russia and the emotional reactions of the Russian temperament to the pressure of tyrannical lawlessness and senseless despotism.

It is a penetrating and prophetic study of the Russian personality as revealed in the characters of vague idealists, conspirators spies, traitors, and bureaucrats, and its accuracy is shown by the great popularity of 

the book in Russia at the time of revaluation.