King Solomon's Mines tells a story of expedition and search in the unexplored region of Africa by a group of adventurers led by Allan Quatermain for the missing brother of one of the party.

Haggard knew Africa well, having travelled deep within the continent during the Anglo-Zulu War and the First Boer War, where he had been impressed by South Africa's vast mineral wealth and by the ruins of ancient lost cities being uncovered, such as Great Zimbabwe.