King Solomon's Mines was one of those break out novels for its author. It was a huge bestseller of its day, a "star wars" for the Victorians, and it still has much influence over our stories today. While a pure adventure tale and worth reading just for the sheer fun, it is not a shallow book at all. The characters are interesting and well developed and it has a few literary allusions to the Old Testament of the Bible and the Ingoldsby Legends. While the author does portray his protagonists as British imperialists, true to his culture of that time, there is more in his tale. His native Africans gradually emerge as fully developed individuals, capable of great nobility and wisdom, or evil. This is an excerpt of an essay written by myself for a newsletter in Writing.com.

anyone who likes to read about the history of English colonialism.

in depth characterization and suspense.

the many allusions to witchcraft and the cruelty of the colonists.

read more on colonialism.

more knowledgeable about colonialism and English racism in general.

wrote in an exciting suspenseful style and also was realistic.

it is a good example of literature about colonialism.

it is scary.

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Created Nov 14, 2016 at 3:46pm • Submit your own review...