The Secret Agent: A Simple Tale is an anarchist spy fiction novel by Polish–British author Joseph Conrad, first "printed (1905–1906) as eleven installments in Ridgway's" and published in book form on 12 September 1907. The story is set in Soho, London in 1886 and deals with Mr. Adolf Verloc and his work as a spy for an unnamed country. The Secret Agent is one of Conrad's later political novels in which he moved away from his tales of seafaring. The novel is dedicated to H. G. Wells and deals broadly with anarchism, espionage and terrorism.