Lord Jim: Joseph Conrad

When the boat he sails in threatens to sink, Jim abandons ship in fear in order to save himself, leaving the other passengers to their fate. Blighted by his own cowardice, Jim's subsequent self-exile to a remote Malaysian trading post gives Conrad the opportunity to explore the question of moral identity and, through his hero, he embodies the values and deterioration of the declining empire of late Victorian Britain. With its rich descriptions of an unknown, exotic world and beautifully constructed prose, "Lord Jim" is considered one of Conrad's greatest works.