The Best Short Stories of Rider Haggard

In the closing years of the last century a writer named Henry Rider Haggard burst upon the literary world to excite and captivate the imagination of readers in a way few other new authors before or since have done. Within the compass of two books he opened up the last remaining 'Dark Continent' on earth - Africa - and then brought back to life a people from the dawn of recorded time, the Ancient Egyptians.

Haggard time and again showed his intimate knowledge of Africa, its history and its peoples, in particular the Zulus whom he greatly admired. In She and other similar historical romances he showed how much he learned from his travels in Egypt and his researches amongst the tombs and relics. As a Norfolk man born and bred he also wrote of England with insight and enthusiasm. These indeed were the three main literary themes of his life: Africa, Ancient Egypt and rural England. This expertly edited selection of his best short stories draws from all three.