Product Description

The tale of the youth of Umslopogaas, holder of the iron Chieftainess, the axe Groan-maker, who was named Bulalio the Slaughterer, and of his love for Nada, the most beautiful of Zulu women.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #850485 in Books
• Published on: 2001-06-18
• Released on: 2003-01-31
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 344 pages

Customer Reviews

A splendidly evocative tale of the Zulus at their peak......
I have been searching for an in-print copy of this book for over 30 years since I first read it as a teenager. The book tells the tale of the hero Umslopogaas, the illegitimate son of the great Zulu king and military general, Chaka. It is at once a tale of adventure, romance and tragedy set against the back-drop of the rise of the Zulu nation during and after the reign of Chaka. Haggard includes many details of historical events that took place and his descriptions of the Africa of the Zulus, while sometimes over-blown, are entirely believable. Although the book is entitled 'Nada the Lily', the 'fair one' and the centre of the romantic interest in the novel, it is the whirl of events surrounding the main character Umslopogaas that drives the story. Haggard was clearly a great admirer of these proud and savage people and gives an accurate account of their society and early history, touched with a young man's feeling for the sense of adventure that Haggard must have felt himself during his days in Africa. Although the English used may sound a little strange to the modern reader, this book is an excellent read!

Pity about the mis-prints
Nada the Lily is undoubtably a good read. The story is well told and the book is hard to put down. Like a previous reviewer I too first read it when I was a teenager and for a long time had wanted to read it again. It was not available in my local or regional library so I searched Amazon and was pleased to find it there.
The print version I bought was the "Wildside Adventure" one, published in 2001 by Wildside Press. Regretably this version is strewn with typographic errors which take some of the enjoyment off the read and, at times, I found them very frustrating. There are literally dozens of them throughout the book. Some change the intended meaning of a sentence and a few make it absolute nonsense. I thoroughly recommend the book but suggest that this version is not the one to buy.

Great read - pity about the typo errors
I thoroughly agree with the review by D. Bradbury. For me this was also a return to a much-loved book of my youth; the one you go to after reading King Solomon's Mines to find out the origins of the great character, Umslopogaas. But this edition, bought as a Father's day present by my daughter, spoiled the experience. Instead of concentrating on the action and the characters I got to the stage of looking for the next error. Even the Heading for Chapter XVIII has an error.
I am a member of the Rider Haggard Society and have reported this to the secretary.