Naipaul looks at the Spanish-British colonial rivalry in the Orinoco Basin, drawing on contemporary sources written in Spanish and English.

In particular, Sir Walter Raleigh's voyages are examined with a psychological depth more typical of novels than historical works.

Naipaul gives a lot of attention to the trial of Sir Thomas Picton, the Governor of Trinidad.

Like most of Naipaul's work, "The Loss of El Dorado" has received considerable critical recognition.

He reworked some of its material in a later book, A Way in the World, where historical narrative is treated in a different way, and is in part rendered as fiction.