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The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder
#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.
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.
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Community Reviews
4.5 stars
David Grannâs The Wager is a meticulously researched and utterly gripping account of survival, mutiny, and moral ambiguity set against the unforgiving backdrop of 18th-century naval warfare. Though grounded in real historical events, the story invites comparisons to William Goldingâs Lord of the Flies in its exploration of the breakdown of civilized behavior under duress, making it both an engrossing narrative and a chilling meditation on the fragility of social order.
Grann chronicles the ill-fated voyage of the HMS Wager, part of a British naval expedition during the War of Jenkinsâ Ear. Tasked with navigating treacherous waters and capturing a Spanish treasure galleon, the crew instead finds themselves shipwrecked on a desolate island off the coast of Patagonia. Stranded in an environment as hostile as the frigid ocean they sailed through, the sailorsâ camaraderie unravels into factionalism, mutiny, and shocking brutality.
Much like Lord of the Flies, The Wager probes the ways in which extreme circumstances strip away the veneer of civilization. The sailors, bound by the rigid hierarchy of the British Navy, initially try to maintain order. But as food and morale dwindle, power struggles emerge, and their shared humanity gives way to acts of selfishness, betrayal, and even murder. The parallels to Goldingâs boysâwho descend into savagery when left to their own devicesâare striking. In both stories, the harshness of the natural world amplifies the darker impulses within, exposing the precariousness of social structures.
What sets The Wager apart is its grounding in historical fact. Grann does not rely on allegory; the horrors he recounts are real, documented in court-martial records and conflicting testimonies of the survivors. This factual basis makes the story even more shocking. The seeming guilelessness of the sailorsâordinary men unprepared for the ordeal they facedâadds to the poignancy. Unlike Goldingâs allegorical characters, the crew of the Wager are victims of both circumstance and the imperial machine that placed them in harmâs way.
Grannâs portrayal of life at sea during the 18th century is another compelling aspect of the book. While the Age of Sail is often romanticized in literature and popular culture, The Wager strips away the glamour to reveal the harsh realities: scurvy, starvation, brutal discipline, and the constant threat of death. This unflinching look at the precarious existence of sailors underscores the broader themes of the storyâsurvival, resilience, and the limits of human endurance.
Despite its historical setting, The Wager feels strikingly relevant. Its exploration of leadership under pressure, the erosion of trust, and the human capacity for cruelty resonates with contemporary questions about power and morality. Grannâs skill as a storyteller makes the narrative flow like a novel, even as he packs it with historical detail and emotional depth.
While the book can be shocking in its brutality, it offers a sobering and necessary counterpoint to romanticized notions of adventure at sea. The Wagerâs tale is not one of triumph but of survival at great costâa reminder of the sacrifices and failures hidden behind the grand narratives of empire.
Ultimately, The Wager is a masterful work of narrative nonfiction that, like Lord of the Flies, forces readers to confront uncomfortable truths about human nature. It is as harrowing as it is fascinating, and its lessons linger long after the final page.
David Grannâs The Wager is a meticulously researched and utterly gripping account of survival, mutiny, and moral ambiguity set against the unforgiving backdrop of 18th-century naval warfare. Though grounded in real historical events, the story invites comparisons to William Goldingâs Lord of the Flies in its exploration of the breakdown of civilized behavior under duress, making it both an engrossing narrative and a chilling meditation on the fragility of social order.
Grann chronicles the ill-fated voyage of the HMS Wager, part of a British naval expedition during the War of Jenkinsâ Ear. Tasked with navigating treacherous waters and capturing a Spanish treasure galleon, the crew instead finds themselves shipwrecked on a desolate island off the coast of Patagonia. Stranded in an environment as hostile as the frigid ocean they sailed through, the sailorsâ camaraderie unravels into factionalism, mutiny, and shocking brutality.
Much like Lord of the Flies, The Wager probes the ways in which extreme circumstances strip away the veneer of civilization. The sailors, bound by the rigid hierarchy of the British Navy, initially try to maintain order. But as food and morale dwindle, power struggles emerge, and their shared humanity gives way to acts of selfishness, betrayal, and even murder. The parallels to Goldingâs boysâwho descend into savagery when left to their own devicesâare striking. In both stories, the harshness of the natural world amplifies the darker impulses within, exposing the precariousness of social structures.
What sets The Wager apart is its grounding in historical fact. Grann does not rely on allegory; the horrors he recounts are real, documented in court-martial records and conflicting testimonies of the survivors. This factual basis makes the story even more shocking. The seeming guilelessness of the sailorsâordinary men unprepared for the ordeal they facedâadds to the poignancy. Unlike Goldingâs allegorical characters, the crew of the Wager are victims of both circumstance and the imperial machine that placed them in harmâs way.
Grannâs portrayal of life at sea during the 18th century is another compelling aspect of the book. While the Age of Sail is often romanticized in literature and popular culture, The Wager strips away the glamour to reveal the harsh realities: scurvy, starvation, brutal discipline, and the constant threat of death. This unflinching look at the precarious existence of sailors underscores the broader themes of the storyâsurvival, resilience, and the limits of human endurance.
Despite its historical setting, The Wager feels strikingly relevant. Its exploration of leadership under pressure, the erosion of trust, and the human capacity for cruelty resonates with contemporary questions about power and morality. Grannâs skill as a storyteller makes the narrative flow like a novel, even as he packs it with historical detail and emotional depth.
While the book can be shocking in its brutality, it offers a sobering and necessary counterpoint to romanticized notions of adventure at sea. The Wagerâs tale is not one of triumph but of survival at great costâa reminder of the sacrifices and failures hidden behind the grand narratives of empire.
Ultimately, The Wager is a masterful work of narrative nonfiction that, like Lord of the Flies, forces readers to confront uncomfortable truths about human nature. It is as harrowing as it is fascinating, and its lessons linger long after the final page.
I was really in between 3 or 4 âï¸ more like a 3.5 so I rounded up. I liked it more than I thought I would. Like if you are looking for historical fiction this is how you write it. I have already recommended it to my husband and father in law who enjoy this genre. I did this as an audiobook. I was glad the voice actor wasnât British. I kept saying âthis is a story I would rather see as a movie instead of read aboutâ. This really isnât my genre and Iâve never liked history/social studies. After reading it I googled to see if it was a movie and itâs actually going to be starting production soon and Leonardo DiCaprio is the lead
parts of this i was enthralled, other parts i felt i was getting to lost in names. looking forward to the inevitable movie adaptation so i can better follow.
An interesting study of how the fight for survival affects the behaviour of
people in different ways. For some the need to lead and others the need to follow changes people’s attitudes to each other and destroys the usually accepted order and leads to anger and violence. Exhaustive research of this true story through the men’s writings both at the time and later tells an amazing story of survival.
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