The Loss of El Dorado
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The Loss of El Dorado, a book by V.S. Naipaul, is a history book about Venezuela and Trinidad. It was published in 1969. Naipaul looks at the Spanish/British colonial rivalry in the Orinoco basin, drawing on contemporary sources written in Spanish and English. The title refers to the El Dorado legend. 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 which was under British rule from the end of the eighteenth century, but he also looks at Venezuela's wars of independence.
Naipaul reworked some of the material in The Loss of El Dorado in a A Way in the World, where historical narrative is treated in a different way and in part rendered as fiction. Naipaul has confessed to not being completely happy with The Loss of El Dorado.
