Elissa or The Doom of Zimbabwe

In "Elissa", H. Rider Haggard takes his readers to the Phoenician city in South Central Africa the mysterious ruins of which have been the subject of so much speculation and research in the recent past. How it happened that a trading town, protected by vast fortifications and adorned with many temples dedicated to the gods of the Sidonians, was built by civilized men in the heart of Africa may not be accurately known, but there is ample room for speculation as to the life of the ancient city, and in this romance the author has tried to picture incidents such as might have accompanied the first extinction of Zimbabwe.

Here we meet the dusky ruler and is made to feel his savage power. There is fine contrast between the different ways in which the selfish, brutal instincts of each crop out. The author has made a very effective picture in showing up the wild, selfish instincts in civilized man, and refinement and honor in the savage. He gives vivid descriptions of the barbaric rites of the savages. Also, the story is a tale of love, with all the tantalizing adventures which only a Haggard could devise and describe revels in scenes of barbaric splendor and savage horror.