Nostromo: A Tale of the Seaboard

In the South American republic of Costaguana, an English- and American-backed silver mine dominates the coastal province of Sulaco. When a military uprising threatens the government, the mine's vast physical wealth becomes an immediate liability. To keep the silver out of rebel hands, administrators entrust the bullion to Nostromo, an Italian sailor famous across the seaboard for his absolute incorruptibility, ordering him to hide the treasure on the offshore islands of the Isabels.

As Sulaco breaks away to declare its independence, the isolated cache of silver dictates the terms of the new nation. Foreign capital, local revolution, and personal honor collide, compromising the ideological foundations of the developing country and the men who fought for it.

Published in 1904, Joseph Conrad’s novel diagrams the mechanics of imperialism and the physical impact of foreign exploitation on a developing state. It established the template for twentieth-century political fiction.