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At the beginning of the 1650s, England was in ruins - wrecked by plague and civil war. Yet shimmering on the horizon was a vision of paradise: Willoughbyland. Ever since Sir Walter Ralegh set out in 1595 to claim the 'Beautiful Empire of Guiana' for the English crown - and to find the legendary city of El Dorado - adventurers had struggled against the fierce jungle of the Wild Coast in search of their fortune. Now, in the lush landscape between the great Amazon and Orinoco rivers, a group of Cavaliers, expelled by Oliver Cromwell, had established a new colony named after its founder - Sir Francis Willoughby. This is the untold story of Willoughbyland's spectacular rise and fall, set at a pivotal moment in British and world history. Here are the indigenous 'Indian kings' and their people, both friend and foe to the new arrivals. Here is Fifth Baron Willoughby himself, like his colony a mass of contradictory extremes. And here is Aphra Behn - later one of the most successful dramatists of the Restoration stage - sent to spy on a man with whom she will fall in love, transforming the fate of this entire enterprise. In the blissfully warm and fragrant air, these adventurers and exiles found a land of unimaginable freedom and natural beauty. Yet, as planters and traders followed explorers, and mercenaries and soldiers followed political dissidents, it would become a place of terror and cruelty, of sugar and slavery. As Matthew Parker reveals, the history of Willoughbyland is a microcosm of the history of empire, its heady attractions and fatal dangers.
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Subjects
Colonies, History, Colonization, Suriname, history, Great britain, colonies, america, British colonies, Willoughby of Parham, Francis Willoughby, Baron, 1613?-1666, Raleigh, Walter, Sir, 1552?-1618, Suriname -- History -- To 1814, Suriname -- Colonization -- History, Great Britain -- Colonies -- America -- History -- 17th centuryPlaces
Great Britain, America, SurinameTimes
To 1814, 17th centuryShowing 5 featured editions. View all 5 editions?
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Willoughbyland: England's lost colony
2017, Thomas Dunne Books, an imprint of St. Martin's Press
in English
- First U.S. edition.
1250112834 9781250112835
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Willoughbyland: England's Lost Colony
2015, Penguin Random House
in English
1448185254 9781448185252
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Includes bibliographical references and index.
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"At the beginning of the 1650s, wrecked by plague and civil war, England was in ruins. Yet shimmering on the horizon was a vision of paradise called Willoughbyland. When Sir Walter Raleigh set out to South America to find the legendary city of El Dorado, he paved the way for an endless series of adventurers who would struggle against the harsh reality of South America's wild jungles. Six decades later, when a group of English gentlemen expelled from England chose to establish a new colony there, they named the settlement in honor of its founder--Sir Francis Willoughby. Located in the lush landscape between the Amazon and Orinoco rivers, in what is now Suriname, Willougbyland experienced one of colonialism's most spectacular rises. But as planters and traders followed explorers, and mercenaries and soldiers followed political dissidents, the one-time paradise became a place of terror and cruelty, of sugar and slavery. A microcosm of the history of empire, this is the hitherto untold story of that fateful colony"--Provided by publisher.
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