The Loss of El Dorado

The Loss of El Dorado, by the Nobel Prize winner V. S. Naipaul, is a history book about Venezuela and Trinidad. It was published in 1969. The title refers to the El Dorado legend.

Naipaul looks at the Spanish/British colonial rivalry in the Orinoco basin, drawing on contemporary sources written in Spanish and English. The book examines the obsessive quest for gold which was typical of the first Europeans to explore the region. In particular, Sir Walter Raleigh's voyages are examined with a psychological depth more typical of novels than historical works.

In the second half of the book, the focus shifts to Trinidad under British colonial rule. Naipaul gives a lot of attention to the trial of Sir Thomas Picton, the Governor of Trinidad. He also looks at Venezuela's struggle for independence from Spain in the early 19th century.

Like most of Naipaul's work, "The Loss of El Dorado" has received considerable critical recognition. On publication its admirers included the Cambridge historian John H. Plumb. However, the author has confessed to not being completely happy with his book. He reworked some of its material in a later book, A Way in the World, where historical narrative is treated in a different way, and is in part rendered as fiction.

Translation

 * La pérdida de El Dorado (Spanish translation by Flora Casas, Madrid 2001).