Sir Henry Rider Haggard KBE (June 22, 1856 – May 14, 1925), was a prolific writer of adventure novels set in exotic locations, predominantly Africa. He was also involved in agricultural reform around the British Empire. His stories, situated at the lighter end of Victorian literature, continue to be popular and influential to this day.
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, all swashbuckling adventure novels set in the context of the Scramble for Africa. He is also remembered for the epic Viking romance, Eric Brighteyes.
Haggard's Lost World genre influenced the popular American writer Edgar Rice Burroughs. Allan Quatermain, the hero of King Solomon's Mines and its sequel Allan Quatermain, has influenced the American film character Indiana Jones, featured in the films Raiders of the Lost Ark, Temple of Doom and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Quatermain has gained recent popularity thanks to being a main character in Alan Moore's League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.