11 h 28 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 11 h 28 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if the search for your captive son draws you into a hidden kingdom’s struggle to survive?
In H. Rider Haggard’s Queen Sheba’s Ring, Dr. Adams enters dangerous country with one purpose: to recover his lost son. His search brings him to the Abati, a secluded African people who trace their ancestry to the Jews. Their mountain stronghold offers shelter, but it cannot settle the threat beyond its defenses.
Adams joins an expedition whose members bring different skills, including Oliver Orme’s engineering experience. Outside the kingdom stands Harmac, the Fung’s huge sacred image shaped like a lion. Within it, Maqueda must protect her people and guard her authority. A rescue mission becomes entangled with a dangerous undertaking, political rivalry, romance, and loyalties that cannot be taken for granted.
What you’ll discover
- A father’s urgent search Follow Adams into danger, driven by a son who matters more than treasure or discovery.
- A kingdom under threat Enter the Abati stronghold, where mountain defenses cannot answer every danger.
- An enormous stone challenge Discover how engineering knowledge meets the daunting scale of the lion-shaped Harmac.
- Authority under strain Watch Maqueda balance the need to protect her people with threats to her authority.
- Loyalties pulled apart Explore competing obligations as a personal rescue becomes bound to a kingdom’s struggle.
Who will love it
Readers who enjoy desert journeys, lost worlds and ancient tombs will love this dry-humoured adventure. It also rewards those who relish friendship under pressure and a brave heroine.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A father returns for his son
- Companions agree to share the danger
- Loyalty succeeds where pride nearly kills
- An enemy recognises their courage
- Service and love tighten their bonds
- Friendship sends them among the lions
- Courage is shown through action
- Love pulls against a ruler's duty
- A promise holds the companions together
Who’s who
- Richard AdamsAn elderly doctor who has searched Africa for years for his kidnapped son and brings the ring to London to find helpers.
- Oliver OrmeA young captain and engineer, steady in danger, who joins the expedition after losing his fortune and his fiancée.
- Ptolemy HiggsA short, red-bearded professor of antiquities, loud and vain, who joins for the sake of ancient treasures and friendship.
- Samuel QuickOrme's old sergeant, a dry-humoured fatalist who knows explosives and guards his master and the stores.
- MaquedaThe young ruler of the Abati, called Child of Kings, who needs outsiders to save a people that will not fight.
- Prince JoshuaMaqueda's fat uncle and promised husband, a boaster who hates the foreigners and wants power over Mur.
- BarungThe Sultan of the Fung, a brave and courteous enemy who guards his god and his people.
- ShadrachThe scarred caravan leader nicknamed the Cat, clever, bold and not to be trusted.
Formats and delivery
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet or computer, once the book texts are online.
- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, once the book texts are online.
- Audiobook
- Read by Lucas Linden, complete. It opens once the recording is online.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 14 minutes, to read today.
- 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.
Every printed copy is made when you order it and shipped worldwide; shipping is shown at checkout. The eBook and the audiobook open when the book texts go online.
How it works
- Start free. Nothing to pay today; the eBook of this book is yours to keep.
- Read, listen and print. 200,000+ classics as eBook, large-print eBook, audiobook and 15-minute summary, and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print, 5 accounts for the price of one.
- We remind you first. Free for 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment. Then USD 0.14 a day in your first year on the yearly plan and USD 0.27 a day after, or USD 0.66 a day on the monthly plan. Cancel online in two clicks.
Bought on its own? Every eBook, audiobook and printed book you buy without the plan carries our 30-day money-back guarantee.
25 languages, side by side
Queen Sheba's Ring 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.
Queen Sheba's Ring
by H. Rider Haggard · 1910
A doctor carries a gold ring from Solomon to London, seeking men to blow up an idol and free his son.
Medium level5–10 hours to read2 languages
Learn a language with medium classicsSpanishFrenchGermanItalianJapanesePortugueseEnglishHow we measure levels
Excellent
Free for 3 months · starts right away, on any device
Read free3 months free · cancel anytimeFree for 3 months, then USD 0.14 a dayCancel anytimeHow it works
- Read or listen
- 25 languages, side by side
- Print and large print at cost
- 5 accounts for the price of one
In short
What would you do if a ring on your finger could lead you to the son you lost twelve years ago? Dr Richard Adams, an old doctor with a goat-like beard, walks into a London dining room one December night and puts that question to two men.
Queen Sheba's Ring at a glance
- Reading time
- About 6 h 35 min5 h 15 min fast, 7 h 55 min slow
- Length
- 94,600 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1910by 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 ring brings a lost father to London
Adams is sixty-five, tall and lean, the son of a Cumberland farmer. He has lived for decades in Egypt and the desert. His only son, Roderick, was stolen by slave raiders at the age of twelve.
On a December evening he knocks at the rooms of his old friend Professor Higgs in Guildford Street. Higgs is short, stout and red-bearded, and he is having dinner with a young engineer, Captain Oliver Orme.
Free for 3 months · Cancel anytime
You looked at
Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 14 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1910
- Language
- English
- Reading time
- 7 h 25 min
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Haggard, H. Rider. Queen Sheba's Ring. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/queen-shebas-ring.
Haggard, H. R. (2026). Queen Sheba's ring. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/queen-shebas-ring (Original work published 1910)
Haggard, H. Rider. Queen Sheba's Ring. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/queen-shebas-ring.
@book{haggard2026queen,
author = {Haggard, H. Rider},
title = {Queen Sheba's Ring},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/queen-shebas-ring},
note = {First published 1910}
}
Free gifts
USD 580 in free gifts when you start
Every book in every format and in 25 languages, 5 accounts for the price of one. Nothing to pay today.
- 200,000+ classic eBooksIn 25 languages, side by side
USD 170FREE - Every audiobookIn 25 languages, any device
USD 120FREE - 15-minute summariesRead or listen, in 25 languages
USD 60FREE - Print at cost, no markupPaperback, hardcover, large print
USD 60FREE - 5 accounts for the price of oneA shelf for everyone at home
USD 170FREE - A part in rebuilding the libraryNew languages and books for all
FREE
Questions about Queen Sheba's Ring
Can I read it free?
Yes. The first key idea of the 15-minute summary is free with no sign-up. Start free and the whole book is yours for 3 months, with the eBook to keep, plus 200,000+ more classics and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print. Nothing to pay today: we email you 7 days before your first payment, and you can cancel online in two clicks.
Can I buy the printed book?
Soon. The paperback, hardcover and large print editions are being prepared. Choose Paperback or Hardcover above, leave your email, and we tell you the day you can order it, printed at cost.
How many accounts do I get?
Five, for the price of one: you and 4 more people, each with their own login, shelf and their own place in every book.
Can I cancel anytime?
Yes. Cancel online in two clicks at any time and nothing more is charged. Nothing is charged in your first 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment.
What is Queen Sheba's Ring about?
A doctor named Adams looks for his son, who was kidnapped as a boy, and joins two friends and a sergeant on a desert journey to the hidden land of Mur, where a ruler wants an idol destroyed.
Who is Maqueda in Queen Sheba's Ring?
Maqueda is the young ruler of the Abati people in Mur, also called Walda Nagasta or Child of Kings. She claims descent from Solomon and Sheba and wears the ring that gives the book its title.
Who is Sergeant Quick?
Samuel Quick is Captain Orme's old servant and a veteran of the Engineers. He is dry-humoured and loyal, trusts fate, understands explosives and often says what the others only think.
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.
More by H. Rider Haggard
See all their booksMore like this
Our mission
The library burned once. We are building it back.
Every great book, in every language and every format, for every family. Every plan helps pay for new languages, new audiobooks and books for readers who have never had them. Join the movement.
Read our story- Every language25 languages today, side by side, and more every year
- No wastePrinted on demand: no warehouses, no unsold stock, no pulped copies
- For everyonePaperback, hardcover and large print at the cost of printing
