An Unofficial 'The Rest Is History' Reading List

H. Rider Haggard

4 books referenced

Books by H. Rider Haggard

King Solomon's Mines

Referenced in 11 episodes

541. Heart of Darkness: Fear and Loathing in the Congo

February 20, 2025

Context:

Mentioned as the polar opposite to Heart of Darkness - described as a swashbuckling, optimistic journey into Africa that never questions the right of adventurers to be there

450. Custer's Last Stand: Death in the Black Hills (Part 5)

May 15, 2024

Context:

Referenced in discussion of European romanticization of frontier life and 'big game hunters' - the hosts recall discussing Haggard's portrayal of 'a man of the plains' in a previous episode.

421. Ancient Carthage: Lords of the Sea (Part 1)

February 19, 2024

Context:

Referenced when discussing the mysterious location of Ophir, noting 'Ryder Haggard situates it in Africa' in connection with a previous episode on King Solomon's mines.

372. The Birth of British Fascism

September 24, 2023

Context:

Referenced in discussion of 'the fiction of empire, and this obsession with manliness, with proving yourself'

345: Raiders of the Lost Ark (Part 1)

June 26, 2023

Context:

Discussed as a Victorian imperial fiction classic that influenced Raiders of the Lost Ark and the adventure serial genre that Spielberg drew upon

338: Ireland: Home Rule, Mutiny - and Civil War? (Part 3)

June 05, 2023

Context:

Referenced in passing when discussing the Edwardian era's obsession with manliness and brotherhood, noting they had done a previous podcast about this book published about 20 years earlier

332: King Solomon's Mines

May 15, 2023

Context:

Main subject of the episode - described as 'one of the best-selling novels of the Victorian age' published in 1885

240. Young Churchill: Soldier of Empire (Part 2)

October 06, 2022

Context:

Referenced alongside Treasure Island as examples of the adventure story worldview through which Churchill saw his imperial experiences

239: Young Churchill: Born to Lead (Part 1)

October 03, 2022

Context:

Explicitly mentioned as a book Churchill had read, referenced when discussing his love of imperial adventure stories

226. The Lord of the Rings

September 01, 2022

Context:

Mentioned as one of the imperial adventure stories Tolkien read as a boy, written in the mid-1880s, about people going to Africa and discovering lost cities

53. Game of Thrones

May 17, 2021

Context:

Referenced as an example of earlier colonial adventure novels featuring 'white hunters or white heroes going to remote cities' that modern sensibilities wouldn't permit

Alan Quartermain

Referenced in 1 episode

332: King Solomon's Mines

May 15, 2023

Context:

Mentioned as a sequel to King Solomon's Mines that Haggard wrote quickly after his first success

She

Referenced in 3 episodes

332: King Solomon's Mines

May 15, 2023

Context:

Described as another bestseller by Haggard published in 1887, called 'another absolutely foundational text in our kind of popular imagination'

226. The Lord of the Rings

September 01, 2022

Context:

Mentioned alongside King Solomon's Mines as another of Ryder Haggard's imperial adventure stories from the 1880s that influenced Tolkien

190. Jubilees

May 30, 2022

Context:

Explicitly mentioned as 'H. Ryder Haggard's book, She' from 1887, cited alongside A Study in Scarlet to establish the cultural moment of the Golden Jubilee

Adventure novels

Referenced in 2 episodes

240. Young Churchill: Soldier of Empire (Part 2)

October 06, 2022

Context:

Mentioned alongside Henty as representative of British imperial adventure writing of the period

239: Young Churchill: Born to Lead (Part 1)

October 03, 2022

Context:

Referenced as adventure tales Churchill was 'addicted to' while at Harrow - 'Ryder Haggard and all that kind of stuff'