“Enlightening, compassionate, superb” (John Le Carré)

Winner of the 2018 Cundhill History Prize.

A New York Times Book Review notable book of 2017.

One of the New York Times 100 notable books of 2017. 

A visionary exploration of the life and times of Joseph Conrad, his turbulent age of globalization, and our own, from one of the most exciting young historians writing today.

Migration, terrorism, the tensions between global capitalism and nationalism, and a communications revolution: These forces shaped Joseph Conrad's destiny at the dawn of the 20th century. In this brilliant new interpretation of one of the great voices in modern literature, Maya Jasanoff reveals Conrad as a prophet of globalization. As an immigrant from Poland to England, and in travels from Malaya to Congo to the Caribbean, Conrad navigated an interconnected world and captured it in a literary oeuvre of extraordinary depth. His life story delivers a history of globalization from the inside out and reflects powerfully on the aspirations and challenges of the modern world. 

Joseph Conrad was born Józef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski in 1857, to Polish parents in the Russian Empire. At 16 he left the landlocked heart of Europe to become a sailor and for the next 20 years travelled the world's oceans before settling permanently in England as an author. He saw the surging, competitive "new imperialism" that planted a flag in almost every populated part of the globe. He got a close look, too, at the places "beyond the end of telegraph cables and mail-boat lines", and the hypocrisy of the West's most cherished ideals. 

In a compelling blend of history, biography, and travelogue, Maya Jasanoff follows Conrad's routes and the stories of his four greatest works - The Secret Agent, Lord Jim, Heart of Darkness, and Nostromo. Genre-bending, intellectually thrilling, and deeply humane, The Dawn Watch embarks on a spellbinding expedition into the dark heart of Conrad's world - and through it to our own.