Sir Rider Haggard was a British Victorian writer known for his adventure novels set is exotic places. His writings are sympathetic to the natives. He often portrayed Africans as heroic in his stories even though the main characters are usually European. King Solomon's Mines is first book in the Allan Quartermain series. Alan Quartermain was the main character in the succeeding novel Marie. He also appears in several sequels. Quartermain was a progressive Victorian. He was a big game hunter in Africa who championed the cause of the natives. King Solomon's Mines tells of a quest into an unexplored region of Africa by Allan Quatermain and a group of adventurers. They are searching for the missing brother of one of the party. The book is significant because it was the first English fictional adventure novel set in Africa