Paradise of the damned : the true story of an obsessive quest for El Dorado, the legendary city of gold / Keith Thomson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Thomson, Keith, 1965- author.

Contributor:

Ward, Jeffrey L., cartographer.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

El Dorado.

Raleigh, Walter, Sir, 1552?-1618--Travel--Guyana.

Raleigh, Walter.

Explorers--Great Britain--Biography.

Explorers.

Great Britain--History--Elizabeth, 1558-1603.

Great Britain.

Guyana--Discovery and exploration.

Guyana.

Genre:

Biography.

Biographies.

Physical Description:

xi, 381 pages : illustrations, maps, portraits ; 25 cm

monochrome

illustration

map

Edition:

First edition.

Other Title:

True story of an obsessive quest for El Dorado, the legendary city of gold

Place of Publication:

New York : Little, Brown and Company, 2024.

Summary:

"As early as 1530, reports of El Dorado, a city of gold in the South American interior, beckoned to European explorers. Whether there was any truth to the stories remained to be seen, but the allure of unimaginable riches was enough to ensnare dozens of would-be heroes and glory hounds in the desperate hunt. Among them was Sir Walter Raleigh: ambitious courtier, confidant to Queen Elizabeth, and, before long, El Dorado fanatic. Entering the Elizabethan court as an upstart from a family whose days of nobility were far behind them, Raleigh used his military acumen, good looks, and sheer audacity to scramble into the limelight. Yet that same swagger proved to be his undoing, as his secret marriage to a lady-in-waiting enraged Queen Elizabeth and landed him in the Tower of London. Between his ensuing grim prospects at court and his underlying lust for adventure, the legend of El Dorado became an unwavering siren song that hypnotized Raleigh. On securing his release, he journeyed across an ocean to find the fabled city, gambling his painstakingly acquired wealth, hard-won domestic bliss, and his very life. What awaited him in the so-called New World were endless miles of hot, dense jungle packed with deadly flora and fauna, warring Spanish conquistadors and Indigenous civilizations, and other unforeseen dangers. Meanwhile, back at home, his multitude of rivals plotted his demise. Paradise of the Damned, like Keith Thomson's critically acclaimed Born to Be Hanged, brings this story to life in lush and captivating detail. The book charts Raleigh's obsessive search for El Dorado--as well as the many doomed expeditions that preceded and accompanied his--providing not only an invaluable history but also a gripping narrative of traveling to the ends of the earth only to realize, too late, that what lies at home is the greatest treasure of all"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

The golden man

Those dainty hands which conquered my desire

England or India or elsewhere

The unlucky bastard

All that glisters

A canoeful of gold

Oyster trees

If the snows of the Andes turned to gold

The El Doradans

He who doesn't die will go crazy

Upon the hard boards

Patience conquers pain

True remedies of poisoned arrows

Called for by death

Very fine

Stones the color of gold

To offend and enfeeble the King of Spain

Kings of figs and oranges

Headless men

How can we fire on our brothers?

Ralegh hath made me love him

The carving of the Queene's meate

They did not deign to take off their hats

The greatest Lucifer that hath lived in our age

The horriblest traitor that ever lived

Disposed of at the King's pleasure

To die for the King and not by the King

Better to have been hanged

Yet shall you find their ashes

"Victory! Victory!"

Great sands and rocks

Sir Judas

The power of the tongue

To die in the light

He was a mortal

Acknowledgments

A note on the sources

Selected bibliography

Notes

Illustration credits

Index.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 315-368) and index.

Local Notes:

Athenaeum copy: Jones Fund bookplate.

ISBN:

9780316497008

0316497002

OCLC:

1434099999