The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder

Written by David Grann

Narrated by David Grann and Dion Graham

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the 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.

A Best Book of the Year: The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The New Yorker, TIME, Smithsonian, NPR, Vulture, Kirkus Reviews

“Riveting...Reads like a thriller, tackling a multilayered history—and imperialism—with gusto.” —Time

"A tour de force of narrative nonfiction.” —The Wall Street Journal

On January 28, 1742, a ramshackle vessel of patched-together wood and cloth washed up on the coast of Brazil. Inside were thirty emaciated men, barely alive, and they had an extraordinary tale to tell. They were survivors of His Majesty’s Ship the Wager, a British vessel that had left England in 1740 on a secret mission during an imperial war with Spain. While the Wager had been chasing a Spanish treasure-filled galleon known as “the prize of all the oceans,” it had wrecked on a desolate island off the coast of Patagonia. The men, after being marooned for months and facing starvation, built the flimsy craft and sailed for more than a hundred days, traversing nearly 3,000 miles of storm-wracked seas. They were greeted as heroes.

But then ... six months later, another, even more decrepit craft landed on the coast of Chile. This boat contained just three castaways, and they told a very different story. The thirty sailors who landed in Brazil were not heroes – they were mutineers. The first group responded with countercharges of their own, of a tyrannical and murderous senior officer and his henchmen. It became clear that while stranded on the island the crew had fallen into anarchy, with warring factions fighting for dominion over the barren wilderness. As accusations of treachery and murder flew, the Admiralty convened a court martial to determine who was telling the truth. The stakes were life-and-death—for whomever the court found guilty could hang.

The Wager is a grand tale of human behavior at the extremes told by one of our greatest nonfiction writers. Grann’s recreation of the hidden world on a British warship rivals the work of Patrick O’Brian, his portrayal of the castaways’ desperate straits stands up to the classics of survival writing such as The Endurance, and his account of the court martial has the savvy of a Scott Turow thriller. As always with Grann’s work, the incredible twists of the narrative hold the reader spellbound.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group
• Release date: Apr 18, 2023
• ISBN: 9780307747495

David Grann

David Grann is the author of the Number One international bestsellers KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON, THE LOST CITY OF Z and THE WAGER. KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON was shortlisted for the CWA ALCS Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction and won an Edgar Allan Poe Award. He is also the author of THE WHITE DARKNESS and the collection THE DEVIL AND SHERLOCK HOLMES. Grann’s storytelling has garnered several honours including a George Polk Award. He lives with his wife and children in Westchester County, New York.

Reviews for The Wager

[6wd4wngj8h · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Very detailed account of the men onboard the Wager. Loved every second of this book!

[darthdeverell · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

David Grann’s The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder chronicles the 1747 shipwreck of HMS Wager near Patagonia during the War of Jenkins’ Ear, a precursor conflict to the War of the Austrian Succession. Captain David Cheap and his crew were charged with accompanying Commodore George Anson’s fleet to the Pacific in order to intercept a Spanish treasure galleon. Several of the ships were lost or turned back in the course of attempting to round Cape Horn amid outbreaks of disease that particularly afflicted the press-ganged crew, many of whom were bedridden when they were brought aboard. As for the Wager herself, storms separated the ship from the fleet and she wrecked off the coast of Chile. What ensued was a struggle to survive in harsh climes while tensions grew and factions developed among the castaways. Grann perfectly dramatizes the historic events, relying wherever possible upon the letters, publications, and interviews of the primary people involved. He supplements these first-person accounts with various other contemporary sources as well as scholarly works that put them in their historical context. Crucially, Grann portrays the wreck of the Wager as not just an isolated incident, but a microcosm representing a class-based Britain on the eve of becoming a major naval power in world affairs. This context drives Grann’s account and underlines the importance of the Wager survivors’ decisions. Dion Graham brilliantly narrates this audiobook, imbuing Grann’s words with a gravitas as he dramatizes the survivors’ own words. This work will appeal to anyone who enjoys history, particularly the history of the age of sail, and is brilliantly written and dramatized in a manner that serves as a model for non-fiction writers when they have the sources available to breathe life into history.

[castlelass · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

True story the British ship The Wager, which, in 1740, was sent to South America as part of a cadre of vessels to capture a galleon during the war with Spain. It is a lesser-known episode in history, with elements of survival, disease, mutiny, and murder. I was amazed by the skills of the seamen in building two small vessels out of the wreckage of a larger one and sailing them hundreds of miles in rough seas. Grann has assembled various sources (logbooks, journals, and books written by survivors and historians) to tell the often-conflicting stories of what happened. Rather than selecting one “most likely” scenario, he allows the differing opinions to speak for themselves. I found this to be a fascinating story. It is very well told and would make a great film.

[gwendydd · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is a fascinating account of, well, shipwreck, mutiny, and murder. The Wager was a ship that the English sent out to attack the Spanish, along with a few other ships, on an incredibly wasteful mission. Hundreds of people died. The Wager crashed trying to go around the tip of South America, and the shipwreck survivors barely managed to survive months in inhospitable territory before cobbling together a new boat out of the remains of the old one and sailing north.

The story is crazy: the number of people who died, the hardships the survivors endured, the difficult and often stupid decisions they made. The story itself is so full of drama that it would be difficult to write a book about it that isn't fascinating and engaging.

However, I think Grann could have done better with some aspects of it. In the introduction, he makes it sound like there's uncertainty about what actually happened, but his narrative doesn't seem to have any uncertainty at all. There were a lot of opportunities to go into detail about some other aspects of the story. I would have liked more information about the indigenous South Americans they encountered, or the logistics of food storage (how do you fit hundreds of people and enough food to last them years in a boat?), or the effects of malnutrition on the human body. Perhaps the book is long enough that Grann felt he didn't have time, but I came away from this book with a lot of questions and was somewhat unsatisfied.

[gpangel_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The Wager by David Grann is a 2023 Doubleday publication

This is a meticulously researched and utterly engrossing account of a maritime disaster, brought to life with the storytelling that fans of *Killers of the Flower Moon* have come to expect.

This historical non-fiction work plunges readers into the harrowing tale of the HMS Wager, a British naval vessel tasked in 1740 with hunting down a Spanish treasure galleon. What begins as an ambitious expedition quickly devolves into a nightmare of unimaginable hardships.

From brutal storms and rampant disease to the Wager’s violent wreck on a desolate Patagonian Island, the story vividly depicts the grim realities of life at sea during this era. Grann’s ability to immerse readers in the scene is unparalleled, capturing every detail of the crew’s descent into despair and chaos.

Stranded without hope of rescue, the survivors face starvation, paranoia, mutiny, and even murder. The psychological toll of isolation and extreme adversity is explored in depth, as Grann masterfully portrays the breakdown of camaraderie and order.

What truly elevates this book is the moral complexity of its narrative. Competing survivor accounts—one of heroism, the other of betrayal—culminate in a sensational court-martial, forcing readers to confront questions about truth, justice, and the nature of leadership under duress. Grann’s storytelling blends history with the pacing of a thriller, making this a gripping and thought-provoking read.

While the subject matter may be intense, Grann’s research is seamlessly woven into an engaging narrative that is as thrilling as it is heartbreaking.

The book also delves into broader themes, such as class, authority, and survival instincts, offering profound insights into human nature under extreme conditions.

This is not just a tale of an epic fail adventure, but a deeply human drama that explores loyalty, betrayal, and the blurred lines between discipline and tyranny. It is a must-read for lovers of history, adventure, and non-fiction that challenges the boundaries of our understanding of resilience and morality.

Overall, this book is an unforgettable account of human endurance and frailty, filled with suspense, heartbreak, and powerful moral questions. Highly recommended for history lovers, but also to anyone who likes thought-provoking non-fiction.

[rayski_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The Wager was an English Man-of-War sailing ship that in 1740 set out on an armada with 7 other ships to hijack a scheduled Spanish galley believed to be full of gold and riches. The trip was to go around Cape Horn and cross into the Pacific where the Spanish galley would be intercepted. Great idea, bad plan.

This is the story of the Wager shipwreck caused by considerable damage crossing Cape Horn and eventually dying on the rocks of an island (later named after the Wager) on the Pacific side of South America. The story is about what becomes of people when faced with starvation, pride and desolation. All civil and morale properties cease, replaced by our most basic needs at any cost - food and shelter. The story's most interesting aspect though is when the few surviving castaways find their way back to England and the Admiralty handle their case which has broken all rules of order & authority verses the devastating experiences the crew suffered. Do you punish the sailors for what they did and didn't do or do you some how pardon them for the tremendous pain they already suffered?

[gbill_7 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is the absolutely remarkable tale of the HMS Wager, which left England in 1740 as part of a convoy meant to sail around the notoriously stormy Cape Horn to capture a treasure-laden Spanish galleon in the Pacific, but which shipwrecked instead. That was in part due to the harshness of the weather, and in part due to the inability to reliably calculate longitude at this time, instead relying on “dead reckoning,” one of the many fascinating factoids that sprinkle the text. There is a lot of nautical jargon here, but David Grann does a great job presenting it in a comprehensible manner, as well as giving the reader the larger context, sometimes going off on interesting tangents besides. Despite how long ago the events occurred, he did a great job of sifting through historical records, many of which survived, and presenting this not as dry history but lived by men who had personalities and flaws.

We get descriptions of the horrors of impressment, dooming innocent people to harrowing voyages that would last years if they survived, the claustrophobic, stench-filled life on board, scurvy turning flesh charcoal black, and the devastating weather around the Cape Horn – and that’s even before they’re shipwrecked and left on a desolate island off the coast of Chilean Patagonia, in desperate circumstances to say the least. The medicine of the day is unsurprisingly archaic, including a lack of understanding of the spread of typhus, lack of anesthesia, and medical textbooks that threw up their hands in saying plagues were “God’s way of cutting sinners from off the Earth.” For scurvy there was a vague sense that somehow the nature of being on land must be vital to man, and so on another voyage victims were buried up to their chins, and an officer recalled the bizarre sight of “twenty men’s heads stuck out of the ground.”

There are men lost at sea, flung into the ocean by terrible storms, men who die of typhus or starvation, and men who resort to murder or cannibalism. There is an attempt to preserve naval order but the eventual fracturing into splinter groups and mutiny on the part of gunner John Bulkeley, a natural leader, against David Cheap, the recently promoted captain. Lord Byron’s 17-year-old grandfather is here as well, and plays a central role. What’s mind-blowing is that three separate groups of men eventually made their way back to England in 1743, 1745, and 1746(!), after having been aided by encounters with Kawésqar and Chono natives, who played a considerable role in their survival. Aside from Bulkeley’s and Cheap’s groups, the third came from the portion of the men who were stranded in even more desolate places during the attempt to make it to Brazil in a longboat. Grann tells all of their stories, as well as the ultimate fate of the convoy’s lead ship, the Centurion, and its commander, David Anson, who would indeed capture the Spanish galleon, which despite being a lucrative haul, came nowhere close to covering the cost of the mission (to say nothing of the hundreds of lives lost).

It’s a stunning story brought to life again, taking us back to such a distant time, and yet also revealing aspects of human nature that are timeless. The color plates present in even the paperback version were a nice touch, and I look forward to seeing the film if indeed it’s being made by Scorsese and DiCaprio.

[lynnb_64 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

What a great read! I found myself longing to get back to this book whenever I had to put it down. The author gives us a true story that is a testament to human ingenuity and the drive to survive. He brings the reader into the lives and conditions of the men: the deprivations, desperation and even terror. He does this so well that I could really empathize with the men at a visceral level. For example, when Bulkeley and the others lost a boat and left men behind on an island, I felt utterly devastated. I really felt for young Mr. Byron, who was only 16 years old when he set sail. And I remain utterly amazed that anyone survived at all.

I was a little dismayed that we never got the trial everyone expected; and never learned the truth even in the last chapter called “The Version that Won”. The narrative had me choosing sides; and book seemed to be heading to a resolution where someone would hang...and never got there. But I must admit, I found the Admiralty’s decision not to open a case of mutiny or murder an interesting development in itself. And I did appreciate that the author didn’t go into speculation, letting the words and actions of the men speak for themselves.

There were times, I thought, when the author seemed to judge the actions/attitudes of the men by modern standards, which didn’t jar me too much as I share his sensibilities. But it happened enough that I noticed.

Favourite quote: “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.”

[loraineo_8 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Very well written, so much detail and research went into writing this book. The Shipwreck in the 1700's of the HMS Wager. Highly recomended!

[stevesbookstuff · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Perhaps, like me, you’ve never heard of the War of Jenkin’s Ear. Robert Jenkins was captain of the British brig Rebecca in 1731 when Spanish soldiers, searching his ship for contraband, tied him to the mast and sliced off his left ear.

The war named after that incident didn’t start immediately, but some seven years later when opposition politicians in the British Parliament used it as a premise to stoke sentiment for war with Spain. It was during that war that the ill-fated voyage of the Wager took place.

David Grann’s book follows the Wager’s voyage from Portsmouth in 1740 to shipwreck on a frigid and barren island off the coast of Chile in 1741. Before the shipwreck the Wager and its crew were in very rough shape. Ravaged by scurvy and typhoid fever, nearly half of its crew of 250 men had perished before the ship ran aground.

Nine months after the shipwreck some of the crew came ashore in Brazil, half clothed and barely alive. And several months after that another set of survivors appeared in Chile. The survivors had competing stories to tell and later, to sell.

Out of these events from 280 years ago Grann has pulled together a compelling story of a perilous voyage, shipwreck, mutiny and survival. Working from the competing stories left by the survivors Grann has to sift through their stories and journals to search out the truth. What really happened? Were the accounts of murder and the hints of cannibalism true?

One of the accounts left behind came from the captain David Cheap. He was a ruthless leader who sought to inspire his men through floggings and intimidation. John Byron, a teenage midshipman and grandfather of the famous poet Lord George Gordon Byron was on his first voyage. His account inspired the 1950’s novel The Unknown Shore. The gunner John Bulkeley was responsible for what Cheap saw as mutiny. Much of the account of the castaways on the island that Grann relates comes from Bulkeley’s journal.

On its release last year many reviewers hailed this book as an instant classic, and after listening to the audiobook I have to agree with that assessment. Crisply told and captivating, this book will satisfy fiction and nonfiction readers alike. And the narration of the audiobook by the acclaimed voice actor Dion Graham is really fantastic.

[dantarlin · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is a popular history story of HMS Wager, an ill-fated ship and crew in the 1740s sent as part of a mission to capture a Spanish galleon by sailing from England around Cape Horn. The Wager is part of a larger armada, but gets separated in the terrible seas just after getting around Cape Horn and wrecks near an island off Patagonia (still named "Wager Island").

The survivors are stranded on this island, which has few resources and harsh conditions. The seas are very stormy all year round apparently. The crew eventually breaks into factions, the largest headed by John Bulkley, the ship's "gunner", a smaller one still loyal to the captain David Cheap, and a third that moves elsewhere on the island. Only a few stragglers from each group make it back to England, where a court martial awaits to determine who evaded military discipline.

The story is told well, and the second half in particular moves along well. I have enjoyed other popular historians more than this one, though- the writing here was sometimes not as gripping, particularly in the first half. But the reader gets a good sense of the perils of ocean travel at that time, and the book seems really well researched.

[eavans-914612 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I liked this a lot more than I anticipated. A well-written, engaging, light history of some horrifying stuff. Good for fans of The Indifferent Stars Above: The Harrowing Saga of a Donner Party Bride or The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession.

[delphimo_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A journey into history illustrates the degrees men go to prove their masculinity. The Wager displays so many aspects of maritime life in the 1740’s. David Grann meticulously reconstructs the fateful journey of The Wager that shipwrecked in the Patagonian Islands and the events that followed the doomed crew. Grann covers all the men and their job aboard the ship. An amazing, and sometimes tedious exploration of life on a ship. Grann also gives minute description of each of the crew. Life on a ship constantly battles the elements and the long, hard trip with very little break in the monotony. Not an ideal life.

[akblanchard_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Author David Grann’s The Wager tells the sad tale of an ill-fated 18th century British naval expedition fueled by greed and misapplied ideals of honor and patriotism.

After their vessel shipwrecks off the desolate southern coast of South America, the men of the HMS Wager experience unimaginable deprivations brought about by brutal weather, insufficient food, and the raging sea. Despite these hardships, the ship’s monomaniacal captain insists that his men press on with their mission to attack and plunder Spanish galleons. The chain of command breaks down and mutiny is the inevitable result.

This true story is packed with death and despair. At several points I had to stop reading. The sailors’ ingenuity is astounding, but often it isn’t enough. Recommended if you are in the mood for this type of thing.

[lillibrary · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The Wager was a British Naval ship in the 1740s that was part of a fleet on a secret mission to intercept and plunder a Spanish galleon. Instead, high seas and rough weather caused the Wager to lose sight of its fleet and become shipwrecked. Isolated and starving, mutiny and murder soon followed suit for the desperate crew. Shockingly, there were survivors who made it back to England 5 years later to face court-martial. Painstaking research lends vivid detail to this doomed and desperate voyage.

[sheila1957 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Tells the story of the ship, Wager, as it goes out with other ships to locate the Spanish Armada and attack it or Spanish ships and bring back the plunder from them. The Wager makes it as far as the Cape of Good Horn when it is shipwrecked and the sailors become castaways on an island there.

I enjoyed this book. I learned how long it took for a ship to be readied for a journey. I also learned how the British got sailors for their ships if enough men had not signed on. It was interesting to travel with them as they leave England going out to the Atlantic and down the coast of South America. When the ship wrecks and the men become castaways, they are resourceful in creating a "town" on the island. They use whatever can be found, doing this as they are sick, starving, and weak. The captain tries to maintain naval regulations, but the gunner has become the leader of the group because of his abilities and leading style. When many of the men decide to go back to England via Argentina, the captain tries to stop them but does not have enough men to stop them. Was it mutiny? The captain also shoots a man because of his failure to follow commands. Was it murder? The group that stayed on the island decide to leave it via Chile. I won't tell you how their story ends. I learned how long it takes some of these journeys. I could not have made it. Many of the men didn't because of starvation, disease, accidents, and other causes.

I learned about an incident I never knew about. I like David Grann's writing and look forward to his next book.

[asukamaxwell · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

In 1740, "The Wager" was part of a squadron of six warships on a mission to sail around Cape Horn to the coast of Chile and cut off Spanish treasure galleons. Among the crew are Lieut. Cheap, Capt. Anson, Capt. Kidd (descendant), John Byron (Lord Byron's grandfather), marine Capt. Pemberton, midshipman Cozens, gunner Bulkeley and carpenter's mate Mitchell among others. Typhus plagues the ships and 160 of 2,000 die before they even reach Brazil. After the death of Kidd, Cheap is promoted to Capt. of the Wager. In Summer 1741, they headed into Cape Horn, not knowing that it was the most dangerous time to do so. "Below 40° latitude, there is no law, Below 50° there is no God" and so it went. Scurvy reduced the squadron to half its manpower, with ceaseless storms battering the rest. Then the Wager found itself utterly alone, wrecked on the shore of an unknown island. But the worst - starvation, murder and mutiny - was yet to come.

If you want dramatic, suspenseful, popular nonfiction that doesn't overstay it's welcome, look no further than "The Wager." I appreciated that Grann focused on only a few members of each faction, to give the reader a chance to "pick a side" or not, sympathize and be engaged. I felt for Byron the most, a disillusioned teenager sold on promises of glory. I appreciate Grann's choice to dedicate a chapter to each group of survivors once they got separated. It added some objective structure to all the chaos. Grann allows the court testimonies, the survivors' actions and journals speak for themselves; no creative liberties needed. Grann also takes a firm stance on behalf of the native Kawésqar encountered by the Englishmen. Local natives tried to help them but imperial prejudices overrode common sense. Definitely recommend it for anyone interested in maritime history, but also in true crime!

[thewanderingjew_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The Wager, David Grann, author
The year is 1740. Once a year, the Spaniards sailed to the Philippines with silver from their colonies in South America, to buy goods, and then they transported them back to Spain. The English wanted that treasure and hoped to intercept the Spanish Armada to obtain it. They pressed innocent men into service, kidnapping them to serve on the ships and go to war. However, the ships were fragile; they were made of wood, and they were mastered by the weather. What started as a force of seven vulnerable ships shrunk, as each, one by one, succumbed to nature’s violence and were shipwrecked. Then illness caused by starvation and lack of appropriate nutrients began to take a toll. A fragile ship became more and more unsafe. Accidents occurred. Surgery was often performed without anesthesia. The men suffered. They would weather one storm and it would be followed by another. They became ill with Scurvy, for which they knew no remedy. The lack of hygiene caused lice to multiply. As the ships became a haven for the disease and infestation, the men succumbed, one by one. Soon, they were shipwrecked and became castaways for months. Using whatever they could salvage, they built boats and attempted to reach land and save themselves. Although they started out with about 2000 men, by the time, years later, that any surviving ships limped in to a port, barely 10%, in total, had survived to tell the tale. Nature’s violence and the elements, vitamin deficiencies, starvation, rebellion and jealousy sowed seeds of despair. When they survivors reached the shore, they were enemies and were arrested. They each spun a tale about their plight, but the take each spun was not always completely accurate or the same, since each wanted to survive and not be considered guilty of a crime. They had already suffered so much.
This book tells the story of one ship, in particular, The Wager, but it encompasses the tale of the other six as well. The commanding officers were of the elite, the captains were loyal to their ships, the mates were not always loyal to their captain. As hardship mounted up, some sailors mutinied, but others stayed loyal. This is a true story of courage and fortitude, but it is also a story of man’s inhumanity to man. The castaways suffered from starvation, the weather, lack of shelter, and fear of never being found. Soon, desperation made many men do the things that would ordinarily be unthinkable, but there were also troublemakers who stirred up the disgruntled men and spurred them to rebel.
After years, eventually, several groups of castaways, some from different vessels, wound up on the shores of South America where they found themselves captured. Once again, they suffered, but were eventually released. They made their way back to England, some 5 or so years later, and were thought dead by many friends and family. They were happy to be home, but after a book was published by the gunner on The Wager, John Bulkeley, who had kept copious journals and was one of the mutineers, Captain Cheap realized his behavior was called into question by the author. To clear his name, the captain, David Cheap, filed court martial charges against the mutineers. They, in turn, charged him with the murder of their fellow sailor. They presented their cases at the trial.
The book tells a little-known tale. Although it starts off a bit slow with a great deal of description and background, by the middle of the book, the pace picks up and is truly an exciting story of courage in the face of the most devastating circumstances. It is also the story of the depravity to which men may sink when desperate. The one thing it shows is that no one wins in war.

[lamour_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The Wager was a ramshackle ship in a British naval squadron that had set out on August 27, 1740 to capture a Spanish treasure vessel off the coast of Chile. While rounding the southern point of South America, it was badly damaged in a series of storms and became wrecked on the shore of an unnamed island that was christen after the ship. Assumed lost with all hands by the rest of the squadron, it was a welcome surprise when 30 sailors landed in Brazil and were returned home to England.

Six months later another six survivors turned up in Chili. Both groups told unbelievable stories of great hardship including starvation, cannibalism, lack of water and incredible seamanship in vessels built from the remains of their original ships and boats. While their stories appear to be fiction, the sailors' journals and verbal accounts confirm the truth.

An incredible read for those who enjoy true stories of adventure and survival.

[ian02054 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

David Grann delivers a gripping tale with The Wager, diving deep into an epic story of survival, betrayal, and the darker sides of human nature. Through meticulous research and vivid storytelling, Grann brings to life the harrowing experiences of shipwrecked sailors struggling against impossible odds.

The narrative feels both thrilling and immersive, as Grann expertly balances historical detail with the raw emotions of his characters. It's a story that’s as much about resilience and morality as it is about adventure, making it hard to put down.

If you’re a fan of true tales that keep you on the edge of your seat, The Wager is a must-read!

[steve38 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A well told tale of mutiny and heroism on the high seas in the eighteenth century. An American author decries British colonial ambitions of the time.

[barlow304 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A rip-roaring nautical tale that crosses Mutiny on the Bounty with Lord of Flies. Highly Recommended

[booklistener · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Facinating story of survival

[japaul22 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book was fun. Well, maybe fun isn't the right word for a nonfiction book about a disastrous 18th century British voyage to try to intercept a Spanish galleon during the War of Jenkin's Ear. To find the Spanish, the group of ships has to go around Cape Horn, the very southern tip of South America. The ships get separated, with some of the men becoming stranded on a (mainly) uninhabited island off the coast of modern day Chile. The book focuses on the leadership issues that arise and the ways the men try to survive while fighting amongst themselves. They end up splitting up (violently) to try to get back to England or meet up with the rest of their ships. Spoiler alert - most of them die. There are a few that return to England to tell their story - all trying to craft a version that puts them in the best light.

This was an entertaining tale that also explores what happens to humans under extreme physical stress. Grann does a great job describing the setting and extreme weather conditions that the men found themselves in. Every time I read one of these disaster books, I just shake my head over and over. It is crazy to me that humans were willing to do these doomed voyages just to get money or glory for themselves and their country. There must be something in the human DNA that makes us want to explore and have adventure, and I suppose to conquer as well.

[jspurdy · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I listened to this book on Audible and found it interesting and enjoyed it. While starting a bit slow, the story was very interesting as the recounting of the navigation around the Cape of Horn began, and the description of the hardships during the shipwreck and survival on the island, gathered from journals of the shipwrecked, was riveting. The post-rescue court martial was a bit lacking in detail but an interesting conclusion. A recommended listen.

[mbmackay · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is an absolute delight of a book!
I started with negative expectations - the book was in the best seller lists, so it was going to be overblown, over-written or over-the-top. It was none of these. Instead it was almost perfect historical fiction, and firmly placed at the "historical" end of that continuum.
The author has a gem of a story to work with - the almost unbelievable harshness of life on a British navy ship in the mid-1700s that gets wrecked on an island off the west coast of South America. Against all odds, several different groups of castaways make it back to the UK, with differing accounts of what went went wrong and who was to blame.
Grann works the source material into a story that is strongly factual, with very limited authorial interventions. The result is very readable, extremely compelling - an absolute delight.

[maryreinert · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Love sea stories and this isn't just a story, but the well-researched and well written story of the voyage of the Wager, a ship that wrecked off the coast of Patagonia in the 1700's. Captain Cheap was promoted as captain of the ship by the commander of a fleet on a secret mission to chase a Spanish fleet. It was his first command.

Terrible weather and poor decisions caused the ship to wreck on rugged rocks. The men managed to salvage much of the timber, food, weapons and make it to shore, but trouble soon started as divisions developed among the men. Months passed and a seaman (not an officer) managed to take leadership of some of the men. Constantly throughout the book, there is the caste division of the titled and the untitled. A mutiny not only meant hanging if found out in Britain, but cast an enormous amount of guilt and fear over the seaman and a sort of armor over the titled.

Although almost all of the men eventually died, a few made it back to England. The first lead by Bulkeley, a seaman gunner, who recorded pages and pages of the entire events as they occurred. His version told of Captain Cheap losing his mental abilities and of his killing of a man. Months later, Cheap and a man who was the grandfather of Lord Byrum appear telling a different story.

The terror, anger, starvation, and harsh weather are vividly told often quoted from Bulkeley's journal. The fact that anyone could survive such an ordeal is amazing. Some of the most interesting parts of the book tell of the aftermath in Britain. Bulkeley actually published his journal appealing to the masses. A court-martial ensued but the only person actually found guilty was the second in command who had tried to support Cheap but left with the others.

Interesting story and a unique look at how nations declare war, take care of their own (or not), and the impact Britain also had on the indigenous peoples. A really good read.

[starkravingmad_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

True story shipwreck story of the British Navy in the 1740s. Weel document and well-written, but not quite as good as Eric Dolin's "Left for Dead".

[ikeman100 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Great book. This is a detailed book about the demise of an English 18th century ship of war. This gives a glimpse into the sea war between England and Spain. Full of detailed information. For example: more sailors died from scurvy during this period, then from storms or battle.

[daumari · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A fitting read for some time at the coast, and a compelling page turner. I did feel early on that a cast of characters might be useful, but as the crew dwindled it became a little easier to figure out who's who. A good example of narrative history.