Paradise of the Damned: The True Story of an Obsessive Quest for El Dorado, the Legendary City of Gold

ISBN: 0316497002

Author: Thomson, Keith

Condition: New

From the bestselling author of Born to Be Hanged comes a transporting account of the obsessive quest to find El Dorado, set against the backdrop of Elizabethan England's political intrigues and the rival Spanish conquistadors vying for El Dorados treasure.As early as 1530, rumors of El Dorado, the mythical city of gold, beckoned to European colonizers. Whether there was any truth to the story remained to be seen, but the allure of wealth alone was enough to ensnare dozens of would-be heroes and glory-hungry hopefuls. Among them was Sir Walter Raleigh: ambitious courtier, confidant to Queen Elizabeth, and, before long, El Dorado fanatic.Throughout his tenuous rise to prominence and fall from grace, the unwavering siren song of El Dorado hypnotized Raleigh. The glittering promise of its wealth appeared to be the solution to all Raleighs troubles, from his long imprisonment in the Tower of London to his multitude of cutthroat enemies.Captivating, witty, and lush with historical detail, Keith Thomsons Paradise of the Damned charts Raleighs quixotic search for El Dorado-as well as the many other doomed voyages that preceded and accompanied it.