The Bright Book of Life by Harold Bloom

JOSEPH CONRAD was born Józef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski in the Ukraine, then part of the Russian Empire, and before that of Poland. He grew up speaking Polish, learned French, and turned to English as a third language.

Conrad's early life was outrageous enough even for a young Polish person of letters, let alone for an English writer. At twenty-seven, he helped run a munitions-smuggling operation for the Carlist rebels in Spain. Before it was over, he came close to being killed, attempted suicide, fell in love with a fatal beauty, and gambled on a grand scale. Four years later, he began a more conventional career in the British merchant marine, which continued until 1894, during which time he commanded his own vessel, and was granted English citizenship. For his remaining thirty years, he was a superb and successful novelist, bringing forth such masterworks as Lord Jim, Nostromo, The Secret Agent, Under Western Eyes, and Victory.