9 h 17 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
A missing brother, a blood-drawn map, and a desert with too little water: how far would you go?
Allan Quatermain is a cautious elephant hunter, not a man who thinks of himself as a hero. Yet he agrees to guide Sir Henry Curtis and Captain John Good into unmapped country. Sir Henry seeks his missing brother. Ahead lies a mountain said to hold an ancient king's diamonds, with a desert and a snowy pass barring the way.
In H. Rider Haggard's adventure, the search leads toward a hidden kingdom ruled by the feared King Twala. Quatermain's plain, often self-mocking voice keeps the dangers close and concrete. Beneath the treasure hunt runs a struggle between greed and honor. The story also carries a Victorian view of Africa, including colonial attitudes that call for a clear, questioning eye.
What you’ll discover
- A reluctant guide Follow a practical hunter whose caution makes each step into danger feel more immediate.
- A punishing journey Cross scarce-water desert and snowy heights with travelers whose supplies matter as much as courage.
- Companions with character Meet steady Sir Henry, cheerful Captain Good, and Umbopa, who keeps his purpose private.
- A court of fear Enter Twala's kingdom, where suspicion surrounds the strangers and Gagool holds power over lives.
- More than hidden diamonds Look beyond the promised treasure to questions of greed, honor, and the narrator's outlook.
Is it for you?
This book suits readers who enjoy a fast quest with maps, deserts and lost kingdoms, and anyone curious about where the adventure genre began. If you dislike the colonial attitudes of the 1880s, you may find parts of it hard going.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A hunter agrees to guide strangers
- A map drawn in blood
- Supplies, servants and a tall stranger
- Crossing the desert with too little water
- Sheba's Breasts and the road of kings
- The Kukuanas receive the white men
- Twala, Scragga and the witch hunter Gagool
- What the story is really about
- How Haggard tells the tale
Who’s who
- Allan QuatermainAn experienced elephant hunter and the narrator, cautious and honest, who agrees to guide the party partly to provide for his son Harry.
- Sir Henry CurtisA strong, calm Englishman who goes into the unknown to find his missing brother and proves brave and steady in danger.
- Captain John GoodA tidy, cheerful naval officer with a monocle, whose good humor and odd possessions bring comfort and surprise on the journey.
- UmbopaA tall Zulu who joins the expedition as a servant, with the bearing of a chief and a purpose he keeps to himself.
- InfadoosA grey-haired Kukuana nobleman who welcomes the strangers with courtesy and has quiet doubts about the king he serves.
- TwalaThe one-eyed king of the Kukuanas, who rules by fear and watches the strangers with suspicion.
- GagoolAn ancient witch-finder at Twala's court, feared by everyone, who holds power over who lives and who dies.
- ScraggaThe king's cruel son, who shares his father's love of power and has no pity for those beneath him.
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- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 9 h 17 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 14 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
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King Solomon's Mines
by H. Rider Haggard· 1885
A hunter leads a search for a missing man and diamonds.
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Language: English
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1 of 9
A hunter agrees to guide strangers
Allan Quatermain opens the book in Natal, where he has spent many years hunting elephants and trading. He tells us he is writing partly for a practical reason. His son Harry is studying medicine in London, and the money from this venture may help the young man. Quatermain is not a boaster. He calls himself a timid man who has simply survived a great many dangers.
He explains how he first heard of the mines. Years before, he had been told stories of a land far to the north, beyond a desert and a mountain range, where King Solomon was said to have found his wealth. Hunters and traders passed the tale along, and most of them laughed at it. Quatermain had never met anyone who had seen the place, and he did not expect to.
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The author
H. Rider Haggard
1856–1925 · English adventure novelist
Henry Rider Haggard (1856–1925) was an English novelist. He was born in Norfolk, lived in southern Africa from 1875 to 1881, and later settled in Norfolk. He wrote King Solomon’s Mines (1885), She (1887), and Beatrice (1890). He also wrote about agriculture and rural life. He died in London.
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What is King Solomon's Mines about?
It tells of Allan Quatermain, a hunter who joins two Englishmen to search for a missing brother and a fabled treasure. Their route leads through a desert, across mountains and into a hidden African kingdom.
Who is Allan Quatermain?
He is the narrator, an experienced elephant hunter living in Natal. He is practical, modest and plain-spoken, and Haggard used him again in later novels, which made him one of the best-known adventure heroes of the period.
Is King Solomon's Mines a true story?
No, it is fiction. Haggard wrote it in the 1880s, drawing on his own years in southern Africa and on old tales of a lost source of Solomon's wealth, but the people and events are invented.
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