"Greene had wit and grace and character and story and a transcendent
universal compassion that places him for all time in the ranks of world
literature..." --John le Carré
Graham Greene's first published novel tells the story of Andrews, a
young man who has betrayed his fellow smugglers and fears their
vengeance. Fleeing from them, with no hope of pity or salvation, he
takes refuge in the house of a young woman, also alone in the world.
Elizabeth persuades him to give evidence against his accomplices in
court, but neither she nor Andrews is aware that to both criminals and
authority, treachery is as great a crime as smuggling. The first step in
a brilliant career, The Man Within offers a foretaste of Green's
recurring themes of religion, the individual's struggles against
cynicism, and the indifferent forces of a hostile world. This Penguin
Classics edition features an introduction by Jonathan Yardley.
For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of
classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700
titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works
throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the
series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and
notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as
up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.