In 1908, Joseph Conrad was criticised by a reviewer for being a man without either country or language: even his shipboard communities were the product of a cosmopolitan vision. This book takes off from that criticism and begins by exploring the history and meanings of the term cosmopolitan. It then considers the multinational world of Conrads ships and of the Merchant Marine more generally to differentiate multinationalism from cosmopolitanism. Subsequent chapters then address nationalism, nation-formation and the concept of the nation through a reading ofNostromo; cosmopolitanism and internationalism in The Secret Agent; nationalism, internationalism and transnational activism in relation toUnder Westen Eyes; and Conrads own transnational activism in his later essays. While drawing distinctions between cosmopolitanism, internationalism and transnationalism as the appropriate conceptual framings for Conrads works, this book traces Conrads own engagement with nationalism, cosmopolitanism, and transnational activism in relation to the political events of his time.

Robert Hampson is Professor Emeritus at Royal Holloway, University of London; Research Fellow at the Institute of English Studies, University of London; and Chair of the Joseph Conrad Society (UK). He is the author ofJoseph Conrad: Betrayal and Identity,Cross-Cultural Encounters in Joseph Conrads Malay Fiction, andConrads Secrets.

Introduction .- Chapter 1: An Archaeology of Cosmopolitanism.- Chapter 2: The Multinational World of Ships.- Chapter 3: Nostromo: The Nation, Nation Formation, Cosmopolitanism and Transnationalism.- Chapter 4: The Secret Agent: Transnationalism and Internationalism.- Chapter 5: Under Western Eyes: Internationalism and Nations.- Chapter 6: 'The Polish Problem' and Transnational Activism.- Afterword.- Appendix: A Note on the National Question.