H Rider Haggard

The short story is often viewed as an inferior relation to the Novel. But it is an art in itself. To take a story and distil its essence into fewer pages while keeping character and plot rounded and driven is not an easy task. Many try and many fail. In this series we look at short stories from many of our most accomplished writers. Miniature masterpieces with a lot to say. In this volume we examine some of the short stories of H Rider Haggard. His invention, the adventure hero Allan Quatermain was a partial inspiration for Indiana Jones and that inspiration is also revealed in the short stories we have here. Henry Rider Haggard born at Bradenham, Norfolk, the eighth of ten children, on 22nd June 1856. His early years were ones of disappointment to his family, his education was good but his application wasn’t. In 1875 his Father sent him to take up an unpaid position in South Africa. Although he only spent 7 years in Africa they are the inspiration and background for a large part of his writings. In 1885 ‘King Solomon’s Mines’ was published followed by its sequel ‘Allan Quatermain’ and ‘She’. He was much admired for the imagination and daring in his stories and characters set against the broad expense of the Empire. He was also influential in agricultural reform which involved sitting on many Commissions and travelling to the Colonies and Dominions .H Rider Haggard died in London on the 14th of May 1925. Some of these stories are also available as an audiobook from our sister company Word Of Mouth. Many samples are at our youtube channel http://www.youtube.com/user/PortablePoetry?feature=mhee The full volume can be purchased from iTunes, Amazon and other digital stores.

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