In this Readers' Guide, Nicolas Tredell introduces and sets in context the major debates about a work which has generated an impressive range of interpretations. The critics assembled here discuss Heart of Darkness in terms of myth, philosophy and politics, analyse its complex narrative technique and style, and interrogate its attitudes to Empire, its images of Africa and its representations of women. Examining secondary sources from the 1900s to the 1990s, this Guide is an indispensable resource for the study of one of Conrad's most potent works.