That’s Joseph Conrad’s novella.
A tale worth rereading as it foreshadows the tyranny of privileged minority.
When I was reading it on the subway years ago, I put a plain brown rapper around the cover to avoid getting assaulted on account of the title. Great sea yarn. I especially liked Donkin the communist agitator. He was so pathetic, it did my heart good to see him portrayed so.
Did I say “Victor Hugo”? Senior moment. My bad.