"Typhoon" is Joseph Conrad's brilliant depiction of life aboard ship during a ferocious storm at sea. Set in the South China Sea on the steam ship "Nan Shan," it tells the story of Captain MacWhirr, his crew and his cargo of Chinese workers as they struggle to survive as the "Nan Shan" is pounded relentlessly by the terrible storm. Based on his own experiences of life as a merchant seaman, Conrad's work delves further into the themes of loneliness, imperialism and racism, and explores in gripping detail the arbitrariness of life, the conflict between old and new orders, and the endless capacity of nature to bring about disruption and change.