El Dorado in the Marshes: Gold, Slaves and Souls between the Andes and the Amazon

"Following in wake of Spanish explorers and missionaries centuries ago, Massimo Livi Bacci enters the extraordinary world of Bolivia's Llanos de Mojos. There he documents the European search for an elusive El Dorado, finding instead sustainable, indigenous adaptations that in time were modified and undone by outside intrusion."
W. George Lovell, Queen's University, Canada

"Massimo Livi Bacci weaves together with masterful skill narratives of European exploration, Jesuit relations, and demographic data to tell a remarkable story of the Mojos, indigenous peoples of what is today eastern Bolivia. Livi Bacci places the Mojos' story within the totality of colonialism, its ruthless quest for gold and slaves, its diseases, its religious imperatives to save Native souls, and its imperial rivalries and warfare. In doing so, Livi Bacci shows how the Mojos' history was neither linear nor preordained. El Dorado in the Marshes provides an even-handed account and is a must read for those who want an accessible yet sophisticated telling of European colonization and its impact on indigenous peoples."
Paul Kelton, University of Kansas