7 h 6 minAudiobook4 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 7 h 6 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if the people poised to inherit the world have no pity—and no need for truth?
Arthur Granger is a writer unsure of himself and his work. Then he meets a calm young woman who claims to come from the Fourth Dimension. Her people, the Dimensionists, intend to inherit the earth. Their confidence carries a threat: they have neither pity nor scruples.
In The Inheritors, Joseph Conrad and Ford Madox Ford draw Granger into politics and the press, where influence counts for more than truth. Ambitious men believe they steer events while others quietly steer them. Fantasy meets sharp satire, asking what becomes of human life when the hunger for power leaves no room for feeling.
What you’ll discover
- An uneasy encounter Meet a confident stranger whose claim turns a doubtful writer’s life toward something strange.
- Power without pity Face the unsettling prospect of a world inherited by people untouched by compassion.
- The press and politics Enter circles where saying what people want to hear can matter more than truth.
- A wry storyteller Follow Granger’s self-doubting voice as he finds himself caught in schemes larger than his life.
- Fantasy with a purpose Look beneath the strange adventure for a sharp judgment on ambition and lost sympathy.
Who will love it
For readers who love political satire with a touch of fantasy, and anyone curious to see Conrad and Ford working side by side. Its themes of power, persuasion and ruthless ambition invite readers drawn to uneasy questions about human sympathy.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A writer meets a visitor from nowhere
- The Dimensionists want the earth
- Politics, newspapers and ambition get caught up
- A fantasy used to judge the real world
Who’s who
- Arthur GrangerA doubtful writer who tells the story and finds himself drawn into schemes larger than his own life.
- The young womanA calm, confident visitor who claims to belong to a people from the Fourth Dimension.
- The DimensionistsA people said to be about to inherit the world, marked by a lack of pity and scruple.
- The men of politics and the pressAmbitious figures who believe they steer events while others quietly steer them.
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- Audiobook
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- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 4 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
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Die Erben
by Joseph Conrad; Ford Madox Ford · 1901
Arthur Granger meets a woman from a Fourth Dimension whose people claim the earth and have no pity.
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In short
The Inheritors is a short novel written together by Joseph Conrad and Ford Madox Ford, who then wrote under the name Hueffer. It appeared in 1901, early in a partnership that lasted several years.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A writer meets a visitor from nowhere
The story opens with Arthur Granger, a writer who is not sure of himself or of his work. He is the one who tells us everything, and his voice is wry, self-doubting and a little tired. Into his life comes a young woman who is unlike anyone he has known. She is calm and sure of herself, and she speaks of things that make no sense to him.
She says she is one of a people from the Fourth Dimension. They are not ghosts or spirits, but a kind of human being who has moved beyond the old limits. Granger does not know whether to laugh at her or believe her. That doubt runs through the early chapters and gives the book its odd tension.
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What is The Inheritors about?
A writer named Arthur Granger meets a young woman who says she comes from a Fourth Dimension. Her people, she claims, will take over the world, and the novel uses this idea to mock politics, the press and ruthless ambition.
Who wrote The Inheritors?
It was written jointly by Joseph Conrad and Ford Madox Ford, who then used the name Hueffer. It is one of the works they produced together at the start of the twentieth century.
Who are the Dimensionists in The Inheritors?
They are the people the young woman says she belongs to. They are described as lacking sentiment and scruple, and as destined to inherit the earth. Many readers take them as a figure for ruthless modern power.
The author
Joseph Conrad
1857–1924 · Polish-British novelist
Joseph Conrad (1857–1924) was a Polish-British writer born in Berdychiv, then in the Russian Empire and now in Ukraine. He worked at sea before settling in England. He wrote in English. His works include Heart of Darkness (1899), Lord Jim (1900), Nostromo (1904), and The Secret Agent (1907).
More by Joseph Conrad; Ford Madox Ford
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