Paradise of the Damned
The True Story of an Obsessive Quest for El Dorado, the Legendary City of Gold
by Keith Thomson
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Pub Date May 21 2024 | Archive Date Jun 03 2024
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Description
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.
Available Editions
| EDITION | Other Format |
| ISBN | 9780316497008 |
| PRICE | $34.00 (USD) |
| PAGES | 400 |
Available on NetGalley
Featured Reviews
Kathryn M, Reviewer
This was a strong historical nonfiction book, I was engaged with something that I wanted. It had a great overall feel to this and enjoyed the adventure element perfectly in this. I enjoyed that I got to learn about the quest to find El Dorado. It had the elements that I was hoping for and enjoyed how well everything worked and was researched. Keith Thomson has a great writing style and enjoyed the overall feel to it.
Brendan D, Reviewer
"Chase your dreams," people say. A less popular maxim is, "You really need to know when to quit it." The "it" in this instance is the mythical El Dorado. The people who didn't know when to quit were mostly Walter Raleigh (or Ralegh or...well even he didn't know how to spell his own name right) and a bunch of other people. We can add another saying which should be more well known. "The Amazon is trying to kill you and it's very good at it."
Paradise of the Damned by Keith Thomson is a wonderful character study of people who think they are just one more mile from that last big score. The score they can retire on. The score which will make them immortal. In the case of Raleigh, he would become immortal, just not in the way he intended.
Most of the narrative is focused on Raleigh and his life once he made his multiple bids for El Dorado. This is not a full biography of Raleigh, but it is a very enjoyable recounting of parts of his life. Along the way, Thomson also mentions the multitude of men who thought they could tame the Amazon and it never goes well.
I should mention that Thomson has a hysterical way of infusing this dark story with witty asides which are always welcome. After all, there is an inherent hilarity in how many of these men kept falling for stories from indigenous people. "Gold? Sure, it's somewhere that is not here. Just keep going and leave us alone. Yeah, my cousin told me all the gold is that way. Yes, we are totally best friends. Now go."
It's not a lie if you want to believe it.
(This book was provided as an advance copy by Netgalley and Little, Brown and Company.)
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