King Solomon's Mines was written by Sir H. Rider Haggard as a result of a five-shilling wager with his brother, who said that he could not write a novel half as good as Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island. Published in 1885 it is regarded as the progenitor of the Lost World literary genre. The dramatic story relates the exciting search for King Solomon's legendary diamond mines by a group of adventurers led by Allan Quartermain. Set in an unexplored region of Africa they are guided by an ancient map, inscribed in blood. On their tense expedition they encounter inhospitable terrain and survive a tribal war before finding the mines and escaping with some of the diamonds. The book's publication was dramatically heralded with billboards and posters around London announcing "The Most Amazing Book Ever Written". became an immediate best seller and is now considered to be one of the best adventure novels in the English language. Everyone loves a good adventure story and a daring protagonist facing and conquering increasingly dangerous challenges in the pursuit of a worthy aim. This is particularly true,  in our increasingly sanitised lives where you don't have to leave your armchair to experience the terrifying and  death defying; sadly it's all there on a screen at the push of a button.