In 1594, the English adventurer Sir Walter Ralegh heard the story of a lost city in South America from a Spanish conquistador. Setting out from Plymouth in February 1595, Ralegh reached the mouth of the Orinoco River and travelled over 400 miles inland – one of the most remarkable feats of exploration of the period. Along the way, he captured galleons full of treasure, fought the Spanish and befriended the indigenous peoples, the first contact between Europeans and a culture that was otherwise completely unknown. He was determined to find a ‘gold-rich empire more lucrative than Peru’ and came tantalisingly close. The book that he wrote on his return, which the Spaniards call El Dorado, reveals the worldview of Europeans on the cusp of the modern era and the enormous drive that the search for unimaginable riches gave men such as Ralegh during the Age of Exploration. 
  
 In this compelling new narrative of one of the most enduring myths in history, bestselling author David Gibbins tells a maritime story of expedition, shipwreck and plunder, shedding new light on Sir Walter Ralegh’s attempts to find a fabled city of gold at the very height of a ‘Golden Age’ of exuberance and expanding horizons.