When first published, King Solomon's Mines (1885) was an enormous popular success. The narrative follows the explorations of Allan Quatermain, a fortune hunter who travels to Africa in search of ancient treasures and a lost fellow explorer. Written as an adventure story, the novel is also a late-Victorian imperial romance that illuminates the politics of British imperialist capitalism in 1870s and 1880s South Africa. This edition includes contemporary reviews, other writings by Haggard on Africa and romance, and documents focusing on imperialism and diamond mining in late nineteenth-century South Africa.

Allan Quatermain is a Victorian Indiana Jones - he triumphs over deserts, snowy mountains, tribal warfare and witches, and unearths the mythical treasure of King Solomon's mines. This faithful but unpretending record of a remarkable adventure is hereby respectfully dedicated by the narrator to all the big boys and little boys who read it. I offer apologies for my blunt way of writing. I can but say in excuse of it that I am more accustomed to handling a rifle than a pen. This is the strange history of our journey into the heart of Kukuanaland; a trek into the interior of the dark continent to find a lost friend and discover the diamond mines of King Solomon.In the course of a long life of close shaves, I never had such shaves as those which I have recently experienced. - Allan Quatermain, of Durban, Natal, Gentleman ‘One of the great page-turners in English literature’ Guardian

※ Google Play 圖書不支援多媒體播放 ※

King Solomon, the Bible’s wisest king, possessed extraordinary wealth. The grand temple he built in Jerusalem was covered in gold from the porch to the inner sanctum, where the Ark of the Covenant was kept. Long before H. Rider Haggard’s classic adventure novel King Solomon’s Mines unleashed gold fever more than a century ago, many had sought to find the source of the great king’s wealth. In this new adventure—“a hybrid of Indiana Jones and Herodotus” (Sunday Times, London)—Tahir Shah tries his hand at the quest. Intrigued by a map he finds in a shop not far from the site of the temple, Shah assembles a multitude of clues to the location of Solomon’s mines. Some come from ancient texts, including the Septuagint, the earliest form of the Bible, and some from geological, geographical, and folkloric sources. All point across the Red Sea to Ethiopia, the land of the Queen of Sheba, Solomon’s lover, who bore Solomon’s son Menelik and founded Ethiopia’s imperial line. Shah’s trail takes him on a wild ride—by taxi, bus, camel, donkey, and Jeep—that is sure to delight all travelers.

This carefully crafted ebook: "40+ Adventure Novels & Stories in One Premium Edition: King Solomon's Mines, Ayesha, Child of Storm, The Treasure of the Lake, She, The Wizard, Heart of the World, Maiwa's Revenge, The Yellow God…" is formatted for your eReader with a functional and detailed table of contents. Sir Henry Rider Haggard (1856-1925) was an English writer of adventure novels and dark fantasy stories set in exotic locations, predominantly Africa, and a pioneer of the Lost World literary genre. Table of Contents: Dawn The Witch's Head King Solomon's Mines She: A History of Adventure Allan Quatermain Jess Maiwa's Revenge Colonel Quaritch, V.C. Cleopatra Eric Brighteyes Nada the Lily Montezuma's Daughter Heart of the World The Wizard Swallow Ayesha Benita: An African Romance The Yellow God The Lady of Blossholme Morning Star Queen Sheba's Ring Marie Child of Storm The Wanderer's Necklace The Holy Flower The Ivory Child Finished Moon of Israel When the World Shook Ancient Allan The Treasure of the Lake Allan and the Ice-gods Elissa Allan's Wife Hunter Quatermain's Story A Tale of Three Lions Long Odds Black Heart and White Heart: A Zulu Idyll Magepa the Buck Smith and the Pharaohs The Blue Curtains Little Flower Only a Dream Barbara Who Came Back

"On board a ship bound for Natal, adventurer Allan Quatermain meets Sir Henry Curtis and Captain John Good. His new friends have set out to find Sir Henry's younger brother, who vanished while seeking King Solomon's legendary diamond mines in the African interior. By strange chance, Quatermain has a map to the mines, drawn in blood, and agrees to join the others on their perilous journey. The travellers face many dangers on their quest - the baking desert heat, the hostile lost tribe they discover and the evil 'wise woman' who holds the secret of the diamond mines."--BOOK JACKET.