13 h 31 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 13 h 31 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
A kingdom faces collapse, and an old hunter must find his way through war, vengeance and the pull of fate.
In Finished, H. Rider Haggard brings Allan Quatermain into the turmoil surrounding the fall of the Zulu kingdom. British arms and colonial ambition press against a powerful southern African kingdom. Against this upheaval, danger and loss give the adventure its weight, while survival becomes more urgent than any claim to heroism.
Quatermain tells the story in the plain, weathered voice of a hunter and trader. He calls himself timid and trusts caution and good aim to carry him through trouble. Haggard's outlook belongs to the age of empire: admiration for Zulu courage, discipline and honour sits alongside the assumptions of white colonists.
What you’ll discover
- A kingdom under pressure Enter a world where British arms and colonial ambition threaten the Zulu kingdom.
- An unpolished adventurer Follow a hunter who relies on caution rather than the shining armour of a conventional hero.
- War and its cost Feel the danger and loss that give this old-fashioned adventure its darker edge.
- The pull of fate Explore an adventure shaped by war, vengeance and the struggle to survive.
- An outlook worth examining Read admiration for Zulu honour alongside the colonial assumptions that shape Haggard's storytelling.
Who will love it
You will enjoy this if you like old-fashioned adventure told by a veteran hunter, or if pursuits, river crossings and ambushes draw you in.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A small promise carries hidden danger
- The hunters become the hunted
- Their shelter conceals a criminal trade
- Love exposes the Temple's threats
- Escape depends on courage and chance
- Zikali offers safety on his terms
- The king faces ruin either way
- Fate does not erase personal responsibility
- Small choices meet a nation's crisis
Who’s who
- Allan QuatermainA veteran elephant hunter who tells the story and keeps his promises, even when they lead him into danger beyond his choosing.
- Maurice AnscombeA cheerful, reckless young Englishman who trusts chance and wants to shoot a buffalo, and who falls in love with a woman in peril.
- Heda MarnhamA brave young woman who designed her father's marble house and wants to protect him and escape a forced engagement.
- Dr. RoddA skilled but ruined surgeon who holds a secret over his partner and wants Heda as his price.
- ZikaliA dwarf wizard called the Opener of Roads who has plotted for decades to destroy the royal house of the Zulus.
- NombéA young witch-doctoress trained by Zikali, who guides the travellers and grows strangely devoted to Heda.
- CetewayoThe Zulu king, torn between a war his people demand and the English power he fears.
- GozaA pompous, fat captain and messenger to the king who escorts Quatermain and watches him closely.
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Finished in 25 languages, side by side, paragraph by paragraph, once the book texts are online: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
Finished
by H. Rider Haggard · 1917
A hunter, a wizard's vengeance and a goddess on a rock of bones pull Allan Quatermain into Zululand.
Medium level5–10 hours to read20 languages
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“Enchantment is just what this writer exercised; he fixed pictures in our minds that thirty years have been unable to wear away.”
In short
What would you do if a stranger bet you fifty pounds that he would meet you again in eighteen months, in the same square, to hunt buffalo? Allan Quatermain takes the money, and that small deal pulls him into the last days of the Zulu kingdom.
Finished at a glance
- Reading time
- About 7 h 50 min6 h 15 min fast, 9 h 20 min slow
- Length
- 111,900 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1917by H. Rider Haggard
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A casual bet in Pretoria sets everything moving
The story opens in Pretoria on April 12, 1877, the day Britain annexes the Transvaal. Allan Quatermain, an elephant hunter and trader, finds the square packed with cheering Englishmen and sullen, armed Boers. A friend warns him that one spark could set the veld on fire.
In the crowd he meets Maurice Anscombe, a sunburned young Englishman with a twinkle in his eye. That night Anscombe announces that he must shoot a buffalo in the Lydenburg district. Quatermain refuses, since his son needs an operation and a trading contract waits. Anscombe names a date, October 1, 1878, and writes a cheque for fifty pounds as a forfeit if either man fails.
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Details
- First published
- 1917
- Language
- English
- Reading time
- 8 h 50 min
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Haggard, H. Rider. Finished. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/finished.
Haggard, H. R. (2026). Finished. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/finished (Original work published 1917)
Haggard, H. Rider. Finished. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/finished.
@book{haggard2026finished,
author = {Haggard, H. Rider},
title = {Finished},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/finished},
note = {First published 1917}
}
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What is Finished by H. Rider Haggard about?
It follows the hunter Allan Quatermain from the annexation of the Transvaal in 1877 to the Zulu War. A hunting trip draws him into a smugglers' feud, a love story, and the wizard Zikali's plan to destroy the Zulu royal house.
Do I need to read Marie and Child of Storm first?
No. Haggard says in his preface that the book can be read alone, although it is the third in a trilogy. Quatermain explains the earlier events as they matter, so you can follow the story from the first chapter.
Who is Zikali in Finished?
Zikali is an ancient Zulu wizard, a dwarf known as the Opener of Roads and the Thing-that-should-never-have-been-born. He hates the royal house of Senzangacona and uses his arts and spies to bring about its ruin.
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.
“Judge not, that ye be not judged.”
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