Haggard, H(enry) Rider

English novelist. He used his experience in the South African colonial service in his romantic adventure tales, including King Solomon's Mines (1885) and She (1887), the best of which also illuminate African traditions and mythology. He also published Rural England (1902).

His first book, Cetewayo and his White Neighbours, appeared in 1882. In 1884 he published Dawn, the first of his novels, and followed it with others, most of which were very successful. The most popular was King Solomon's Mines; others include Jess (1887), Allan Quatermain (1887), and The World's Desire (1890), written with Andrew Lang. He was knighted in 1912.