Name: Cleopatra
Price: 52.19 RON
Availability: InStock
Author: H. Rider Haggard
ISBN: 9781514195741

Cleopatra

H. Rider Haggard

Sir Henry Rider Haggard KBE (1856-1925) was an English writer of adventure fiction set in exotic locations, predominantly Africa, and a pioneer of the lost world literary genre. He attended Ipswich Grammar School and after failing his army entrance exam was sent to London to prepare for the entrance exam for the British Foreign Office which he never sat. In 1875 he travelled to South Africa to take up an unpaid position as assistant to the Lieutenant-Governor of the Colony of Natal, and a year later he was transferred to the staff of the Special Commissioner for the Transvaal, then in 1878 became Registrar of the High Court in the Transvaal. On his return to England in 1880 he married a friend of his sister and the couple travelled back to Africa, settling back in England in 1882. Haggard studied law and was called to the bar in 1884, but spent much of his time writing which he saw as being more profitable. In 1885 he published King Solomon's Mines which introduced the character Allan Quatermain, inspired by the adventurers Haggard had encountered in colonial Africa. The book was the first English adventure novel set in Africa and proved hugely popular, with a sequel, Allan Quatermain, appearing in 1887, followed by a whole series featuring the same character. Haggard's other popular titles include She (1887) and its sequel Ayesha, the former considered to be one of the classics of imaginative literature. Cleopatra (1889) is a story set in the Ptolemaic era of Ancient Egyptian history, revolving around the survival of a dynasty bloodline protected by the Priesthood of Isis. The main character, Harmachis (the living descendant of the pharaoh's bloodline) is charged by the Priesthood to overthrow the supposed imposter Cleopatra, drive out the Greeks and Romans, and restore Egypt to its golden era. The story, which draws heavily upon adventure and exotic concepts, is told from Harmachis's point of view in biblical language, being in the form of papyrus scrolls found in a tomb. Haggard's portrayal of Cleopatra is particularly noteworthy, revealing her wit, her treachery and her overwhelming presence.

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H. Rider Haggard was an English novelist, colonial administrator, agricultural reformer, and one of the central figures in the development of modern adventure fiction. He was born Henry Rider Haggard in Norfolk, England, in 1856, and spent part of his young adulthood in southern Africa, where he worked in the colonial service. That experience gave him material, settings, and political assumptions that shaped much of his fiction, especially his stories of exploration, empire, ancient kingdoms, hidden peoples, and dangerous quests.Haggard became famous with King Solomon's Mines, first published in 1885, a novel that introduced Allan Quatermain and helped establish the lost-world adventure as a powerful popular form. Its success was followed by Allan Quatermain, She, Ayesha, Nada the Lily, Montezuma's Daughter, The People of the Mist, and many other novels. His books combined fast-moving action, exotic landscapes, mysterious civilizations, supernatural suggestion, romance, and imperial-era adventure in a style that influenced later pulp fiction, lost-race stories, jungle adventure, fantasy, and cinematic adventure heroes.Allan Quatermain remains Haggard's most enduring male hero: a hunter, guide, observer, and reluctant adventurer whose toughness is often tempered by humility, fatalism, and melancholy. Haggard's work is also historically complicated. His fiction reflects the racial, imperial, and colonial attitudes of its age, yet it often shows more interest in African cultures, oral tradition, leadership, and moral courage than many adventure novels of the same period. That tension is part of why his books remain important artifacts of Victorian popular literature.Beyond fiction, Haggard wrote on agriculture, rural life, and land policy, subjects he took seriously throughout his later career. He was knighted in 1912 and died in 1925. His influence continued long after his death, especially through adventure fiction, fantasy, lost-world stories, and the broad tradition of expeditionary romance. Writers and filmmakers who built stories around ancient secrets, hidden kingdoms, perilous journeys, and larger-than-life explorers worked in territory Haggard helped define.