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

Overall Rating: 1.5/5

Audio Length: 10hrs

Pages: 400

Welcome to the first book review on Shelf Indulgence! I'm hoping to come up with a similar format for the book reviews, but we have to start somewhere!

It is difficult to tell a story that explains this complex and gruesome period of human history, and Keith Thomson's book fell extremely short of trying. To title this book as a "true story" is terrifying, as the historical inaccuracies, generalizations, and overwhelmingly Eurocentric voice of this book were glaringly apparent. I think what disturbed me most was the casual mentions of the torture and enslavement of the native peoples Thompson writes as if genocide was some unfortunate occurrence that couldn't have been avoided. It is one thing to use language directly quoted in a source from the time period, but it is an entirely different thing to use the word "savages" and "uncivilized" of your own accord.

The thousands of 4-5 star reviews on Goodreads are also terrifying, because they tell an even truer story about how easily misinformation is believed. It is so easy, in my opinion, to believe a story when so many other people already believe it - praise it. I mean, this book was front and center in the history section of Barnes & Noble, when in reality, it should have been on the fantasy shelf.

I understand that this isn't a peer reviewed journal article intended to be picked apart by academic researchers, but it is disheartening to know that a few easy google searches invalidate multiple parts of this book. It is strange to me that none of the reviews mention Thompson's lack of credentials to even publish a book marketed as a history book. I mean, he writes articles for Huff Post, Telegraph & Argus, and a few others, alongside his cartoons, but does that really authorize someone to publish "historical" research. I think not. Thompson has written other books, but they mostly consist of fictional spy novels. So I guess the real question is how and why did Thompson research and produce a "historically accurate" book on conquistadors? And the answer to that, my friends, is that it was likely out of his own personal interest... Which makes total sense, because out of all the things I disliked most about this book, it was the narrative tone that truly threw me for a loop.

It read as if Thompson wished he was a conquistador, and he was reminiscing on the good old days.

Don't get me wrong, I am 100% supportive of making history more easily digestible and accessible to people. It is easier for people to read about topics when they're told in a storytelling format, after all, humans have been listening to each other's stories for thousands of years... but if you're going to make history read like a fantasy book, at the least inject a little humanity into it.

I would only recommend this book to people who-- you know what? No. I can't even recommend this as a source to be picked apart for a research class. It's too flawed.

DNF

02/08/2025