The four tales in this volume share autobiographical origins in Conrad's experience at sea and his exile from Poland. They vividly present Conrad's preoccupation with the theme of solidarity, challenged from without by the elements and from within by human doubts and fears. This revised edition uses the English first edition texts and has a new chronology and bibliography.

This volume contains "Typhoon," "The Secret Sharer," "Falk," and "Amy Foster." "Typhoon," a story of a steamship and her crew beset by a tempest, is a masterpiece of descriptive virtuosity and moral irony, while "The Secret Sharer" excels in symbolic ambiguity. Both stories vividly present Conrad's abiding preoccupation with the theme of solidarity, challenged from without by the elements and from within by human doubts and fears.
Conrad's experiences as a captain of the ship Otago in 1888 provided material for both "The Secret Sharer" and "Falk." "Amy Foster," written in 1901, is bleak and stark in its depiction of human isolation and incomprehension.
In a range of tones extending from the sombre to the radiant, Conrad's central preoccupations are displayed at their best, strangest, and most plangent in this selection of stories.