'Colonel Quaritch, V.C.: A Tale of Country Life' is an adventure novel written by H. Rider Haggard. The story begins by immediately introducing us to the hero of the story, Colonel Quaritch, who the author describes as, "He was a peculiar and rather battered looking individual, apparently over forty years of age, and yet bearing upon him that unmistakable stamp of dignity and self-respect which, if it does not exclusively belong to, is still one of the distinguishing attributes of the English gentleman. In face he was ugly, no other word can express it."