Willoughbyland: England's Lost Colony

Parker (Goldeneye: Where Bond Was Born; Ian Fleming's Jamaica) has written an engaging history of the early colonization and imperial exploitation of the South American country now known as Suriname, explaining factors leading to English invasion by Sir Walter Raleigh in the 1500s, an attempt to regain credit after losing the favor of Elizabeth I. Also explored is how Raleigh's failed colonization efforts allowed Suriname to be exploited first by Dutch and then subsequent English expeditions, including the titular adventure led by Francis Willoughby in 1652. Initially referred to as Willoughbyland, Suriname's history is told with passing mentions of Dutch colonization and slavery, and offers limited accounts from native peoples; yet the author doesn't explain this lacuna. Readers may notice this work deals with the same period and location as one of the biographies in Natalie Zemon Davis's Women on the Margins. Artist Maria Sibylla Merian traveled to Suriname in 1699, and some of her plates are used as illustrations in Parker's study.