From rumors of lost Amazonian cities of gold to the silver running through the mountains of Bolivia, hopes for dazzling wealth fueled the imperial fantasies of the Tudors and Stuarts. Stories of treasure ships and the feats of privateers from Francis Drake to Walter Raleigh have become entrenched in myth and legend—but what did Elizabethans actually know about Venezuela, or the Chesapeake? How did Indigenous people and their knowledge enter the art, fashion, and literature of Shakespeare's time—and at what cost? A Golden World uses tangible history and artefacts to illuminate the unexpected ways that the Americas and its people became a visible and material presence in English culture in the first era of colonization.

This award-winning historian presents an altogether new history of the 'golden age' of the Tudors and Stuarts, shedding light on the craft and labor of those in the Americas who contributed to the English Renaissance as we know it, and investigating what this means for heritage today. While England's fascination with eastern powers has been more readily acknowledged, A Golden World focuses on how Atlantic colonization provides a distinct and crucial part of this cultural history. Lauren Working gives new insight into the dynamics of power and desire for lands and resources in the Americas and how it changed the course of history.