Kyrilo Razumov is a student in the University of St. Petersburg in the early 1910s. His life is quiet as he takes no clear position on any of the great questions of his time. One night, Razumov finds Victor Haldin, a fellow student, who claims to have killed the brutal Minister of State. "Under Western Eyes" is full of cynicism and conflict about the historical failures of revolutionary movements and ideals.

Joseph Conrad (1857-1924) was a Polish-born author who left Poland in his teens to avoid enlistment in the Russian Army. He learned English aboard British ships and started writing in that language after settling in England. His most famous novel is ‘Heart of Darkness’ (1899), which was inspired by his experiences on the open sea.