First published in 1902, HEART OF DARKNESS has clearly earned its place in literary history. The story is based on Conrad's personal experiences in Central Africa and closely parallels many of the events that occurred while he worked his way up the Congo River, and back, on a steam wheeler. Those events inspired him to create characters and a story line that deals with the early greedy exploitation of the Congo by the Europeans, in this case, through the ivory trade. As in all Joseph Conrad's stories it starts out slow but when the action breaks, the listeners will be pleased they stayed with it and experienced a great work.