约瑟夫•康拉德是英国著名作家，《黑暗的心》是他的代表作之一。

位列美国现代文库20世纪百佳英语小说第47位。 F.S.菲茨杰拉德说：“我宁愿我写出了《诺斯特罗莫》而不是其他小说”。 这部长篇小说被认为是一部政治小说杰作，美国现代文库评选的20世纪百佳英语小说将之排在第47位。 小说虚构了一个南美国家科斯塔瓦那，这个国家长期处于暴政、革命和战争之中。查尔斯•古尔德拥有一座藏量丰富的银矿，他对这个国家的动荡与无处不在的腐败深恶痛绝，决定用他的财富支持当时的独裁政府，认为此举能给这个国家带来稳定。但是开采银矿将带来的巨额财富招致各种势力的觊觎，引发了新一轮的革命和自我割据的军阀战争，将这个国家带入更大的混乱之中。腐败与贪婪侵入了每一个人的生活，小说的主角“不被腐蚀”的诺斯特罗莫面临着巨大的考验。

Heart of Darkness has been considered for most of this century as a literary classic, and also as a powerful indictment of the evils of imperialism. It reflects the savage repressions carried out in the Congo by the Belgians in one of the largest acts of genocide committed up to that time. Conrad's narrator encounters at the end of the story a man named Kurtz, dying, insane, and guilty of unspeakable atrocities.

"Heart of Darkness" has been considered for most of this century as a literary classic, and also as a powerful indictment of the evils of imperialism. It reflects the savage repressions carried out in the Congo by the Belgians in one of the largest acts of genocide committed up to that time. Conrad's narrator encounters at the end of the story a man named Kurtz, dying, insane, and guilty of unspeakable atrocities.