The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder
David Grann
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Killers of the Flower Moon, a page-turning story of shipwreck, survival, and savagery, culminating in a court martial that reveals a shocking truth. The powerful narrative reveals the deeper meaning of the events on the Wager, showing that it was not only the captain and crew who ended up on trial, but the very idea of empire. On January 28, 1742, a ramshackle vessel of patched-together wood and cloth washed up on the coast of Brazil. more
354 pages, Hardcover
First published Doubleday
4.22
Rating
81125
Ratings
8626
Reviews
David Grann
21 books 4921 followers
David Grann is the author of the #1 New York Times bestsellers Killers of the Flower Moon and The Lost City of Z. Killers of the Flower Moon was a finalist for The National Book Award and won an Edgar Allan Poe Award. Look for David Grann’s latest book, The Wager, coming soon!He is also the author of The White Darkness and the collection The Devil and Sherlock Holmes . Grann's storytelling has garnered several honors, including a George Polk Award. He lives with his wife and children in New York.
Community reviews
4. 5 Stars. I was excited to read the Kindle edition of David Grann's The Wager. This is an astoundingly and painstakingly well-researched book of historical non-fiction. It is a story of the shipwrecked Wager, a tale of death, destruction, betrayal, and survival. more
“They had been shipwrecked on a desolate island off the coast of Patagonia. Most of the officers and crew had perished, but eighty-one survivors had set out in a makeshift boat lashed together partly from the wreckage of the Wager. Packed so tightly onboard that they could barely move, they traveled through menacing gales and tidal waves, through ice storms and earthquakes. More than fifty men died during the arduous journey, and by the time the few remnants reached Brazil three and a half months later, they had traversed nearly three thousand miles – one of the longest castaway voyages ever recorded. They were hailed for their ingenuity and bravery. more
David Grann has done an amazing job with the true story, The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder, which describes the 1741 journey of The Wager, a British warship. Over the following two years, it is an incredulous journey of survival, betrayal, mutiny, and murder. I listened to it on audiobook and Dion Graham does an AMAZING job as narrator. I felt like I was right in the midst of the action. There are frequent references to the orlop deck, the lowest deck in a ship which is below the water line. more
I'm gonna make this quick and easy: This is a wonderful, can't-put-it-down book. The GR description captures the broad outlines so I needn't bother with that. Just prepare to be completely swept away (sorry, couldn't help myself) by a true story about: 18th century naval battles, terrible storms with deadly waves and winds, shipwrecks, mutiny, murder, betrayals, disease, kidnapping, cannibalism, indigenous people who travel and hunt in canoes (. ) in one of the most treacherous ocean passages in the world, and more. A lot more. more
"The Wager" by David Grann is an enthralling masterpiece that transported me to the treacherous world of shipwrecks, mutiny, and murder. The link to the audiobook can be found here The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder . Grann's eloquent prose painted vivid imagery, allowing me to immerse myself in the harrowing journey of the characters. The book is a testament to Grann's impeccable research and attention to detail. His ability to unearth historical records and piece together a gripping narrative is truly remarkable. more
It is often said that real events are more fascinating than fiction, and the story of The Wager, an English ship which set off in pursuit of the Spanish 'prize of all oceans' in the early 1740s proves such a statement perfectly. Left in obscurity, the story of the Wager was unearthed by Mr Grann who wrote an unputdownable book about the courage, loyalties and mutiny. I followed the maps while listening to the audiobook and it added to the thrill. One of the main historic figures is Lord Byron's grand-father, who was barely a teenager while boarding The Wager and whose grandson referred to his ancestor's marine voyages and achievements. Incredible story. more
I knew nothing about the HMS Wager when I started this book. I purposely bought the ebook-not the audiobook. I had a hunch I might need to ‘read-the-words’ > rather than listen …. It was a good choice. This blisteringly tour de force …. more
Sad but true, doomed voyages are one of the best stories. The Wager is a thrilling account of the British naval ship HMS Wager. In 1741, as part of Commodore George Anson's squadron, they set out to intercept Spanish galleons carrying treasure from South America. With treacherous tides and storms through the passage between Cape Horn and Antarctica, the Wager ran aground on a desolated island. With little resources, the crew faces starvation and freezing temperatures. more
Lord of the Flies: Nonfiction EditionClick here to hear more of my thoughts on this book over on my Booktube channel, abookolive. more
“Empires preserve their power with the stories that they tell, but just as critical are the stories they don’t - the dark silences they impose, the pages they tear out. ”There are many true accounts of adventures or journeys going awry. Stranded on deserted islands, lost on frigid mountains, these survivors face harrowing conditions. Starvation, disease, and possible death can result. Occasionally, heroic acts of self-sacrifice and unparalleled leadership occur. more
Riveting. David Grann is one of the very best historians and storytellers around, and this tale of an eighteenth-century cataclysm at sea (and on land) is alive with heroes and villains, unbelievable competence and spectacular stupidity. Every time the world intervened and I had to put the book aside, it would be in my mind as I tried to imagine how the sailors and castaways were going to make it through yet one more day. I just loved it. You will, too. more
This true story of bravery, perseverance, survival and an unavoidable act of mutiny under terrible conditions, is about HMS Wager which on her expedition to the Pacific in 1740 was shipwrecked on the coast of Chile. Fun fact: Lord Byron’s grandfather was a midshipman on the ship. more
In 1740 the British warship the Wager was on a mission to capture a treasure-filled Spanish ship. Instead, the Wager wound up shipwrecked, and its crew very rapidly lost all pretense of civility, loyalty, honor and human decency. Most members of the crew died. The survivors eventually made their way back to London, wrote books about their ordeal and were the subject of charges and countercharges, including mutiny and murder. I was not as enthralled by this book as I was by “Killers of the Flower Moon”. more
In 1740, the Wager set off on a journey around the world with a secret mission to capture Spanish silver and gold. Two years later, a leaking longboat lands in Brazil full of desperate men. But these are not the only survivors of the Wager, and both captain and crew end up on trial as England attempts to determine the truth. I love a good survival story, but for some reason shipwrecks have always left me underwhelmed. Maybe it’s because I don’t like the beach. more
David Grann books are not to be taken lightly. Consider "Killers of the Flower Moon" (https://www. goodreads. com/review/show. ) which I also reviewed. more
Roughly two hundred and eighty days after The Wager shipwrecked, Grann pens the tale of. what happened and why. Using a narrative voice he used vivid descriptions about life at sea, a hard and dangerous life,often made more so by lack of men due to illness. The rough waters around Cape Horn created a life and death situation. Well researched Grann used a journal kept. more
David Grann has a knack for finding neglected stories, researching them deeply, and then turning them into immensely readable books:The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon, Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI, and now this tale. And what a tale it is. During the War of Jenkins’ Ear between England and Spain (you all remember that one, right. ), a small fleet of British warships set out in search of a legendary Spanish ship known to travel to and from the New World with cargoes of gold and silver. Their route would take them around Cape Horn, arguably the most treacherous passage on the high seas. more
One British captain recommended that a young officer in training bring onboard a small library with the classics by Virgil and Ovid and poems by Swift and Milton. “It is a mistaken notion that any blockhead will make a seaman,” the captain explained. “I don’t know one situation in life that requires so accomplished an education as the sea officer…. He should be a man of letters and languages, a mathematician, and an accomplished gentleman. ”Fueled by printing presses and growing literacy, and by a fascination with realms previously unknown to Europeans, there was an insatiable demand for the kind of yarns that seamen had long spun on the forecastle. more
The Wager is a capable if underwhelming narrative history, further let down by some clumsy and out-of-place editorialising. It's a shame because, over the years, David Grann has been one of my favourite non-fiction writers; his The Lost City of Z was well-researched and had the pace of a good novel, and his essay collection The Devil and Sherlock Holmes found some truly weird and fascinating topics to cover, such as the Polish writer whose crime novel sounded suspiciously similar to an unsolved murder from a few years previously. However, I have also experienced some disquiet off the back of more recent releases. The White Darkness was too slim to be worth its price; an interesting essay padded out with photographs and white space to give it the RRP of a full book. Furthermore, it was too non-critical of its topic. more
reading vlog: https://youtu. be/fod4rfv-qz4read just like fiction. so well researched and put together. more
3. 5 Stars The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder was such an interesting and well researched account of shipwreck, survival, and savagery. This is my third book by this author, and I find his attention to detail is excellent. January 1742, a ramshackle vessel of patched together wood and cloth washed up on the coast of Brazil. On board was 30 barely alive men who had a remarkable survival story to tell. more
First-rate historical narrative nonfiction. I felt like I was on the set of Master and Commander although I reckon Russell Crowe and Paul Bettany smelled a bit nicer than the blokes on The Wager. It's hard to wrap the head around what these sailors endured, even before hoisting anchor. I had never given much thought to the term 'press gangs,' and was horrified to learn that it was the virtual enslavement of men and boys by the British Navy to serve on ships that were short of troops. The elderly, sick and disabled were yanked from convalescent homes, men were kidnapped off the streets in broad daylight, all to spend years at sea in rat and lice infested vessels, many never to return. more
Not my favorite by this author. It started out very promising. Here is a standout quote from the prologue:"We all impose some coherence, some meaning on the chaotic events of our existence. We rummage through the raw images of our memories, selecting, burnishing, erasing. We emerge as the heroes of our stories allowing us to live with what we have done, or haven't done. more
David Gann turns his insatiable attention to a long forgotten incident in maritime history. HMS Wager, her crew and the circumstances leading to her being wrecked off Patagonia and the subsequent events, are all brought to life through Gann's knack for making the past current. A real page turner filled with relatable people whose flaws and qualities are all too human. The audio version was enhanced by the narrator who brought a fine sense of drama. more
Rating 3. 5Interesting read, shocked how quickly man descends into madness, anarchy. I liked the story but don't think the audio was the best choice. Very good narration, just a lot of people to keep track of and a bit hard to do that with audio. At times I felt it did drag. more
Great story; great book. For a Non-Fic, it's got everything you could possibly hope for in a sea-faring adventure. The year is 1742, and a squadron of English ships are trying to sail around the world. The group is approaching Cape Horn - the most turbulent ocean on the face of the planet. There's a terrible storm and a shipwreck; men are missing, and handfuls of survivors wash up on strange shores. more
“Being in a ship is like being in jail, with the chance of being drowned. ”― Samuel JohnsonMy first non-fiction November read. Water is something that calms me and attracts me. Yet have read few sea faring books so even the cover on this I found fascinating. This story takes place in the early days of sea exploration when daring men took on impossible adventures for a chance at wealth and fame. more
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