Synopsis
Three men trek to the remote African interior in search of a lost friend, and reach an unknown land cut off from the world, where terrible dangers threaten anyone who ventures near the spectacular diamond mines of King Solomon.
Gale Research
As legend has it, Haggard wagered that he could produce a tale equal to Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island, which was enormously popular at that time. The result was King Solomon's Mines, an exhilarating account of adventurer Allan Quatermain's search for lost treasure in Africa. During his quest, Quatermain nearly freezes to death in the mountains, becomes a captive of barbaric natives, and narrowly avoids a dangerous trap while recovering lost diamonds. This exciting tale, though perceived as somewhat slapdash in style by some reviewers, found considerable favor with English readers. As Andrew Lang noted in an 1885 edition of Saturday Review, "Since Treasure Island we have seen no such healthily exciting volume." In 1987,Armchair Detective contributor Robert Sandels commented that King Solomon's Mines "has an appeal and durability which leads one to wonder if it isn't more than just a well-told tale."