Sir Henry Rider Haggard, (22 June 1856 – 14 May 1925) was an English writer of adventure novels set in exotic locations, predominantly Africa, and a founder of the Lost World literary genre. His stories, situated at the lighter end of Victorian literature, continue to be popular and influential. 

Haggard is most famous as the author of the novels “King Solomon’s Mines” and its sequel “Allan Quatermain”, and “She” and its sequel “Ayesha”, swashbuckling adventure novels set in the context of the Scramble for Africa (the action of Ayesha however happens in Tibet). 

Hugely popular, “King Solomon’s Mines” is sometimes considered the first of the Lost World genre. “She” is generally considered to be one of the classics of imaginative literature and with 83 million copies sold by 1965, it is one of the best-selling books of all time. Haggard is also remembered for “Nada the Lily” (a tale of adventure among the Zulus) and the epic Viking romance, “Eric Brighteyes”. 

While his novels portray many of the stereotypes associated with colonialism, they are unusual for the degree of sympathy with which the native populations are portrayed. Africans often play heroic roles in the novels, although the protagonists are typically, though not invariably, European. Notable examples are the heroic Zulu warrior Umslopagas and Ignosi, the rightful king of Kukuanaland, in “King Solomon’s Mines”. 

Haggard’s stories are still widely read today. Ayesha, the female protagonist of “She”, has been cited as a prototype by psychoanalysts as different as Sigmund Freud (in The Interpretation of Dreams) and Carl Jung. Haggard’s Lost World genre, influenced popular American writer Robert E. Howard, and other American pulp writers such as Edgar Rice Burroughs, Talbot Mundy and Abraham Merritt. 

Allan Quatermain, the adventure hero of “King Solomon’s Mines” and its sequel “Allan Quatermain”, was a template for the American character Indiana Jones, featured in the films “Raiders of the Lost Ark”, “Temple of Doom”, “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” and “Indiana Jones and Kingdom of the Crystal Skull”. 

Allan Quatermain orders his men to fire in this illustration by Thure de Thulstrup from Maiwa's Revenge (1888).

Sampling of Public Domain Books by H. Rider Haggard Available For Download: 

Books featuring Allan Quatermain: 

• King Solomon’s Mines (1885)
• Allan Quatermain (1887) 
• Maiwa’s Revenge (1888)
• Allan’s Wife & Other Tales (1889)
• Marie (1912)
• Child of Storm (1913)
• Allan and The Holy Flower (1915)
• Finished (1917)
• The Ivory Child (1916)
• The Ancient Allan (1920)

Books featuring Ayesha: 

• She (1887)
• Ayesha: The Return of She (1905)
• She and Allan (1921) 

Other Books:

• The World’s Desire (1890)
• Eric Brighteyes (1891)
• Nada the Lily (1892)
• The People of the Mist (1894)
• The Wizard (1896)

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