Sir Walter Raleigh and the Quest for El Dorado

Gr 7 Up-A welcome book on an important historical figure in European and North American history. Scholars now agree on the spelling of the man's name as "Ralegh," so beware of possible confusion. Sir Walter led an active, ambitious, and sometimes acrimonious life. From humble beginnings to the court of Elizabeth I (who appropriately is a primary figure in the book with much insight given to her as a person and as a ruler), Sir Walter played a role in the social, political, and cultural worlds of his time. Aronson begins with an impressive cast of characters that demonstrates the vast influence of his subject: royalty, New World chiefs, conquistadors, and famous writers, all of whom are blended together to tell this complex, interesting, well-written, and readable story. While it is doubtful that Ralegh actually threw his cape down to prevent Elizabeth from stepping in a puddle, he did introduce potatoes to Ireland. The many elements of the man's personality are explored in a well-rounded and fair manner, with several examples of his own writings-from poetry to a suicide note-interspersed throughout. The quest for El Dorado has a recurring role here, just as it did in Ralegh's life, but despite the title, it is not necessarily the main thrust of the book. Well illustrated with black-and-white prints and original maps, and including thorough endnotes and a great comparative time line, this book is exemplary nonfiction and pure gold for libraries.-Andrew Medlar, Chicago Public Library, IL Copyright 2000 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Demonstrating the same keen passion for his subject as in his Art Attack, Aronson examines the life of a contradictory and complex Elizabethan figure, both poet and soldier. As in the best of biographies, the author expands his narrative beyond the details of a single life to draw a nuanced and compelling portrait of the times in which he lived. Aronson sets the stage with a preface describing the many, often conflicting symbolic meanings that the quest for El Dorado, the fabled South American city of gold, held for early modern Europeans. He deftly intersperses a chronological account of the often paradoxical details of Ralegh's life with the tumultuous changes taking place in early modern Europe. In this way Aronson provides a cultural context for a man who could write love sonnets to his queen and also mount bloody battles against the Irish. He makes no excuses for Ralegh, but vividly paints the rise of a gentleman farmer's son, with no real connections, to a court favorite. In another irony, because Ralegh was favored by the queen, she granted him a "patent" to stake claims in the New World yet he himself did not set sail: "Ralegh remained near money and power, while his men sailed off the edges of the map." Both fascinating and daunting, the account may be challenging for those with little prior knowledge of the period; however, the exceedingly well researched archival maps and prints, time line, "Cast of Characters" and extensive endnotes and bibliography will help budding historians get their bearings. Aronson's portrait of "the first modern man" is both provocative and tantalizing, revealing his subject as a person of canny wit and magnetism with all-too-human shortcomings. Age 11-up. (May) Copyright 2000 Publishers Weekly Used with permission.