Call number
910.9 GRA
Collections
Genres
Publication
Doubleday (2023), Edition: First Edition, 352 pages
Description
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 2500 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.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member cathyskye
David Grann is one of my favorite authors, and his Killers of the Flower Moon is one of my all-time favorite non-fiction books. Since I have an interest in maritime history, I knew I had to read The Wager, which describes one of the longest castaway voyages ever recorded.
Grann set the stage so well
Grann immersed me in these men's lives-- one of whom would be the grandfather of the poet, Lord Byron. (Yes, Byron's experiences were important in light of one of his descendants, but the crew member who had the most impact on me was the free Black man on the Wager, John Duck.) Grann also reminded me of the integral part sailors played in the history of our clothing and our language. However, the one thing that I enjoyed the most was how he exposed what was really going on and how the Wager's original assignment and the proceedings of the court martial at the end actually fit into the much larger world stage.
Any reader with an interest in ships, the sea, human nature, and government machinations should read The Wager.
(Review copy courtesy of the publisher and Net Galley)
Grann set the stage so well
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that readers feel as though they're on board ship with the officers and crew. This was the time of press gangs when the British Navy had so much trouble finding enough sailors to man their ships that they'd send groups of men to roam the streets outside pubs at night to kidnap men and force them aboard ships for duty that could last years. This meant that not all the men on the Wager wanted to be there. As the voyage progressed, scurvy set in, and as men began to die, the Wager found itself with a new captain named Cheap, a man who would be called "Jobsworth" by the British (as in it was more than Cheap's job was worth to go against his orders). Cheap's bungling and indecision were instrumental in the Wager's unsuccessful attempt to round Cape Horn, ending with the ship being wrecked and the survivors being castaways on a desolate island in Patagonia. This isn't the first book I've read about the land, the seas, and the weather of the Tierra del Fuego, but Grann wrote of it so well that I felt seasick, wet, and frozen solid as I turned the pages. The months the castaways spent on that island, trying to survive and trying to escape, were brutal.Grann immersed me in these men's lives-- one of whom would be the grandfather of the poet, Lord Byron. (Yes, Byron's experiences were important in light of one of his descendants, but the crew member who had the most impact on me was the free Black man on the Wager, John Duck.) Grann also reminded me of the integral part sailors played in the history of our clothing and our language. However, the one thing that I enjoyed the most was how he exposed what was really going on and how the Wager's original assignment and the proceedings of the court martial at the end actually fit into the much larger world stage.
Any reader with an interest in ships, the sea, human nature, and government machinations should read The Wager.
(Review copy courtesy of the publisher and Net Galley)
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LibraryThing member japaul22
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
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.
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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.
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LibraryThing member stevesmits
Well-researched and well told by the author of "Killers of the Flower Moon". The book not only recounts a long-forgotten harrowing tale of shipwreck, mutiny and heroic escape from a desolate island it also gives us a close look at conditions existing for British sailors in the mid-eighteenth
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century. Fans of Patrick O'Brian and the "Mutiny on the Bounty" trilogy will enjoy this story. Show Less
LibraryThing member cmbohn
England and Spain have never been best friends, to put it nicely. Occasionally they've broken out into actual war. This book centers around a time of such conflict, when in the 1740s England decided to commission a fleet led by a Commander Anson to go after Spanish galleons and loot them for their
It was a disaster. By the time they actually set sail, they were headed for the worst weather of the year around the Cape Horn. There were already problems before they got there, including scurvy, but by the time they got to the bottom of South America, the fleet had broken up and one of the ships, The Wager, ran aground. Mayhem and mutiny ensued, along with starvation and murder.
I don't know why I love these nautical disaster books so much. I'm a total landlubber. I can't even swim. I didn't even see the ocean until I was an adult. But for whatever reason, I love reading these books. This one definitely did not disappoint. It was full of drama and emotion, and the best part was that it was all true and taken from the accounts written by the actual survivors. If you like tales of shipwreck or disaster, add this one to your list. I raced through it and I'm so glad I did.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a free copy of this book. This did not affect my review.
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gold. It was a disaster. By the time they actually set sail, they were headed for the worst weather of the year around the Cape Horn. There were already problems before they got there, including scurvy, but by the time they got to the bottom of South America, the fleet had broken up and one of the ships, The Wager, ran aground. Mayhem and mutiny ensued, along with starvation and murder.
I don't know why I love these nautical disaster books so much. I'm a total landlubber. I can't even swim. I didn't even see the ocean until I was an adult. But for whatever reason, I love reading these books. This one definitely did not disappoint. It was full of drama and emotion, and the best part was that it was all true and taken from the accounts written by the actual survivors. If you like tales of shipwreck or disaster, add this one to your list. I raced through it and I'm so glad I did.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a free copy of this book. This did not affect my review.
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LibraryThing member santhony
I enjoy reading non-fiction accounts of exploration, including early seafaring voyages. While this work isn’t necessarily an account of exploration, trans-oceanic sea travel in the early-mid 18th century was still in its infancy.
This book chronicles the adventures of the HMS Wager, and its crew,
The author paints an absolutely horrid picture of the experience aboard the Wager, and this was even before the shipwreck. Life aboard an 18th century sailing ship seeking to round the cape was certainly no picnic. Weeks of nonstop gale force winds and mountainous seas, coupled with freezing temperatures and monsoons added to the fun. Oh, and toss in widespread scurvy among the crew.
Once shipwrecked and marooned, starvation became a distinct possibility and claimed many crew members. Factions developed and mutiny ensued. I won’t spoil the ending, but only say, there were survivors.
The book is actually very short, only 260 well-spaced, large margin pages. Easily read in 3-4 sittings. A few photos are included.
This book chronicles the adventures of the HMS Wager, and its crew,
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as it sought to round Cape Horn as part of a British fleet seeking Spanish plunder. The Wager was shipwrecked off the coast of southern Chile and what followed was a mixture of Robinson Crusoe and Lord of the Flies.The author paints an absolutely horrid picture of the experience aboard the Wager, and this was even before the shipwreck. Life aboard an 18th century sailing ship seeking to round the cape was certainly no picnic. Weeks of nonstop gale force winds and mountainous seas, coupled with freezing temperatures and monsoons added to the fun. Oh, and toss in widespread scurvy among the crew.
Once shipwrecked and marooned, starvation became a distinct possibility and claimed many crew members. Factions developed and mutiny ensued. I won’t spoil the ending, but only say, there were survivors.
The book is actually very short, only 260 well-spaced, large margin pages. Easily read in 3-4 sittings. A few photos are included.
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LibraryThing member tymfos
An armada of British Man-o-War ships sets sail, after much delay and some shoddy preparation, on a mission that is to take it around the world, including navigation around treacherous Cape Horn. Given the subtitle of the book, it's not a spoiler to say that it doesn't go well. There is scurvy,
I was eager to read this because I loved Grann's "Killers of the Flower Moon." Once again, Grann creates a meticulously researched work, with copious notes, which reads almost like a suspense novel. This book didn't grasp me quite as quickly as the previous work, because British history of that era is a little less close to my heart than 20th-century American history. However, once I acclimated myself to the maritime culture of the time, it became quite a compelling read, with a rather surprising ending. Recommended for readers who enjoy history and/or maritime tales.
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there are vicious storms. The ship Wager navigates too close to the rocks, and its surviving crewmembers are stranded on an incredibly desolate island. What happens after that eventually becomes subject of fierce debate and a court-martial.I was eager to read this because I loved Grann's "Killers of the Flower Moon." Once again, Grann creates a meticulously researched work, with copious notes, which reads almost like a suspense novel. This book didn't grasp me quite as quickly as the previous work, because British history of that era is a little less close to my heart than 20th-century American history. However, once I acclimated myself to the maritime culture of the time, it became quite a compelling read, with a rather surprising ending. Recommended for readers who enjoy history and/or maritime tales.
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LibraryThing member JulieStielstra
Dazzling, absorbing, appalling. I am in awe of what Grann has achieved in this narrative and research: finding, accessing, reading, and digesting the details from 18th-century primary sources is a towering achievement. Weaving it all together into a vivid, propulsive, highly literate tale is a
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whole 'nother level of skill. For not only does he simply tell an amazing tale well, he adds insight to just *how* stories like this are told to others, to ourselves, what societies do with the facts, how the "facts" are presented, spun, twisted, burnished to different audiences with different agendas. All of which are sharply relevant down to this day. A brilliant piece of work, and a breathtaking tale of the sea, of war, of history, leadership, violence, courage, selfishness, endurance, and survival. Show Less
LibraryThing member brianinbuffalo
[3.75 stars] Having never been enthralled by maritime adventures, I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this exhaustively researched tale. True, it tried my patience a bit as preparations were being made for the ill-fated voyage. But once the action began and the tensions intensified, it presented
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a stark portrait of human resiliency. I wasn't surprised to learn that "The Wager" has inspired Scorsese and DiCaprio to reunite for yet another film collaboration. Show Less
LibraryThing member KallieGrace
I love disasters. I learned so much in the book, from the geography of the coasts around the tip of South America (terrifying) to the intricacies of surviving on a ship (impossible) to the insane greed of governments willing to throw away thousands of lives for the idea of fortune. I hate water, I
I really enjoyed the little information about the indigenous people in that area too, and was sad to hear they are largely gone due to our greed and racism. I appreciate the modern tone the author took with regards to colonialism and racism when it cropped up, calling it what it was rather than trying to explain it away as part of the times.
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love being on solid ground, and this just makes me more sure of that. There are so.many.ways to die at sea. None of them are good.I really enjoyed the little information about the indigenous people in that area too, and was sad to hear they are largely gone due to our greed and racism. I appreciate the modern tone the author took with regards to colonialism and racism when it cropped up, calling it what it was rather than trying to explain it away as part of the times.
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LibraryThing member DrApple
I got bogged down in the unending suffering once the group was ship wrecked, I did learn about the English navy.
LibraryThing member ibkennedy
Interesting piece of mid 1700s history. Nicely written.
LibraryThing member hhornblower
This is the first book I've read by David Grann. i think the main issue I have is the amount of dramatic narrative he used in this. He certainly is a dedicated researcher, but how can he be so certain that this person was feeling that emotion and they was feel that. There are many instances of that
In addition, spend more than half the book building up the tension on the island and the various voyages home get a bit shorted. Historically the saga ultimately ended with a whimper and the book kind of does too.
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and it just brought me out of the book. In addition, spend more than half the book building up the tension on the island and the various voyages home get a bit shorted. Historically the saga ultimately ended with a whimper and the book kind of does too.
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LibraryThing member FormerEnglishTeacher
This is one of those nonfiction works that always make me suspicious. The details of the voyage of HMS Wager and the mutiny that overtook the Royal Navy ship after it shipwrecked in 1741 off the coast of Patagonia are hard to imagine given the timeline and the number of sailors who actually
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survived the voyage. Hard as it is to believe that a tale this far into the past could contain so much detail, we have to remember that at one time people actually kept diaries and journals. Through these the story survived with the few who survived. But that isn’t where the story ends. After the survivors return to England, there is a court martial trial to determine exactly who were the mutineers and who kept their loyalty to the Crown. Like all David Gann’s book, this one is a masterpiece and deserves the weeks and weeks it’s been on various best seller lists. This is a book that also deserves to be recommended to everyone. A real winner. Show Less
LibraryThing member bobbieharv
Such a fascinating wonderful well-researched well-written book about so much: Britain and Spanish wars, warships, mutiny, survival - so compelling. I kept telling everyone around me what was happening in it as I read it.
LibraryThing member janerawoof
Well-written and very well-researched nonfiction telling of HMS Wager in the 18th century and its mission to capture Spanish treasure and the various horrendous things it went through: shipboard life [warts and all], its journey around Cape Horn and subsequent shipwreck, mutiny, cannibalism, and
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even murder by her captain. I liked any nautical explanations, also it was interesting to learn this whole affair was an influence on the naval fiction writer, Patrick O'Brien and that one of the main characters, Midshipman Byron was grandfather to the poet, Lord Byron, who used some of his grandfather's experiences in his "Don Juan." The book, although factual, read like a novel. Show Less
LibraryThing member quondame
Told with a restrained but decided anti-imperialistic stance, this narrative makes a smooth telling from what must have been a very lumpy quantity of evidence - over half the book is notes, reference material, indexes. The ending is in fact a bit of a twist in the way the court martial handled the
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situation, but it can't be the only time marital justice picked its comb carefully. It's hard to have fellow feeling with the two arrogant and self justifying leads in the drama or the romantic views of the young midshipman Byron or in fact any of the players on the island. Still, with modern knowledge of how starvation acts upon the moral fiber of a group it is amazing that they held together in any manner at all and some, though so few, managed to make it back to England. Show Less
LibraryThing member JHemlock
What a story. I have been waiting to read this book for some time and one thing for sure is that it did not disappoint. Grann’s book on the shipwreck of the HMS WAGER reads like a tell all story with a narrative that refuses to let the reader go. From the onset the reader is pulverized with a
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squadron of ships that seem to have nothing but bad luck from the start. The ocean is a harsh mistress indeed and WHOA was she pissed off at this unfortunate group of sailors. The author grabs you by the throat and from the start pulls you under the foamy waves. In brief intervals he allows the reader to come up for air. He goes in depth on nearly aspect of the journey from the Press Gangs of England to the blood of the crewmembers splattered on the deck. Everything in this book smells, good for the reader, bad for the men at sea. Without spoiling the end, it is almost a slight to the survivors with how their journey ends. Not because of the judgement handed down by the Admiralty…but maybe the lack of it. It really lets you see where the priorities of those who sit on high rest. This does not read like a typical history book. It is told in a format that keeps us interested and has the narrative of a good adventure story...but we all the while we are reminded that it all happened. Show Less
LibraryThing member nmele
It's easy to see why this book became a best seller, since it combines war, shipwreck, murder and heroism in a story that would make a good novel. What most interested me was the aftermath when the survivors return to civilization and their ompeting accounts are laid before the public in
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courts-martial. The outcome did not surprise me. Show Less
LibraryThing member waldhaus1
Reveals a little known episode in British naval history. The Wager was a British man of war involved in the also little known’ war of Jenkins war.’ It was sailing around the horn and just as the Bounty famously did it experienced a terrible rounding. It ultimately ran aground as sank beside an
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island off the Chilean coast. While much of the crew had already died the survivors were ravaged by starvation. Part of the crew left in a longboat and a barge after arguing with the captain about whether they should continue west or go back around the horn. The crew wanted to return to England so they took a boat and went east. The captain and a crew other man remained behind. Lord Byron’s grandfather was one of those who remained behind. He and those left behind eventually were rescued by a band of Patagonian natives. Those who sailed east with the longboat got to England first. There was a court marshall asking why the ship was lost. Little fault was found. The tail of struggle and survival gives a real feel for what the days of wooden ships was like during the 1700s. Show Less
LibraryThing member Hccpsk
If you needed any confirmation of the absolute misery of 18th-century sea travel look no further — David Grann’s The Wager delivers in spades. Pieced together meticulously through journals, sea logs, and accounts written after the fact, Grann recounts the misguided military campaign to sail
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from England around South America in search of a Spanish galleon loaded with treasure. Already struggling with disease and terrible weather, The Wager finally shipwrecks off the coast of Chile, and the hardship multiplies as the men must now deal with starvation and mutiny. Readers need to steel themselves for a lot of suffering and not a lot of plot, but a thoroughly researched account of historical ship life, tragedy, and unimaginable survival in the face of disaster. Show Less
LibraryThing member markm2315
Riveting. I read slowly enough that if I've ever read anything in one sitting, it was very short, but this history is a candidate for a list of books that you (not me) might read in one sitting.
LibraryThing member MaggieFlo
This starts in September 1740 when the refitted merchant ship “the Wager”sails out of Portsmouth as part of a convoy with six other vessels. The plan of the British Admiralty is to sail to South America around Cape Horn and intercept a Spanish galleon loaded down with silver and gold from their
All goes well at first until a series of calamities befall the convoy including scurvy which enfeebles a great number of crew and officers. Next, the voyage around Cape Horn is extremely treacherous and very few of the ships survive the onslaught of wind, waves a freezing temperatures. The crews are decimated already when the Wager is shipwrecked on Misery Island at the tip of South America.
What I found compelling about the story is the excellent character development, the details regarding the structure of the ship, the command structure of the officer class and the living conditions aboard the ship. There is a mutiny as factions develop among the men, a murder by an officer and the deliberate marooning of some.
The fact that so many people survived and returned to England is a testament to the nature of the those who are mentally strong enough to endure these horrible living conditions.
The finale is a court martial which contemplates all sides and very promptly make a decision. The story ends abruptly at this point but we do hear about what happens to the main characters
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colonies. The galleon sailed twice a year from South America to Spain loaded down with great treasures.All goes well at first until a series of calamities befall the convoy including scurvy which enfeebles a great number of crew and officers. Next, the voyage around Cape Horn is extremely treacherous and very few of the ships survive the onslaught of wind, waves a freezing temperatures. The crews are decimated already when the Wager is shipwrecked on Misery Island at the tip of South America.
What I found compelling about the story is the excellent character development, the details regarding the structure of the ship, the command structure of the officer class and the living conditions aboard the ship. There is a mutiny as factions develop among the men, a murder by an officer and the deliberate marooning of some.
The fact that so many people survived and returned to England is a testament to the nature of the those who are mentally strong enough to endure these horrible living conditions.
The finale is a court martial which contemplates all sides and very promptly make a decision. The story ends abruptly at this point but we do hear about what happens to the main characters
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LibraryThing member novelcommentary
Well Mr. Grann has done it again. I thought Killers of the Flower Moon was an incredible non-fiction account and here again The Wager matches that high standard of a well researched masterpiece.
I like this description from the Washington post:
"Reading it is like living one of those anxiety
Grann begins the book by giving the facts of the fateful voyage of the Wager, part of a five ship Armada whose mission was to attack the Spanish galleon and bring back the treasure to England. "It was January 1740, and the British Empire was racing to mobilize for war against its imperial rival Spain." He then begins the story will the collection of the crew, the "pressing" of any able bodied former seamen who might have tar on their fingers. Even a retirement home for old sailors is raided to find the men needed. I was amazed how many of these men could not swim. So right away you forget that you know the facts of the story and begin a tale of survival like few others. The depictions of scarlet fever, scurvy and starvation will stick with me for a while. The five parts of the story: The Wooden World, Into the Storm, Castaways, Deliverance, and Judgment describe the arc of the story but the details of what these men experienced and how they survived make for excellent reading, think the opposite of Gillian's Island.
Highly recommend.
Lines:
“Whosoever commands the seas commands the trade of the world; whosoever commands the trade of the world commands the riches of the world.”
Constructing a single large warship could require as many as four thousand trees; a hundred acres of forest might be felled.
To “toe the line” derives from when boys on a ship were forced to stand still for inspection with their toes on a deck seam. To “pipe down” was the boatswain’s whistle for everyone to be quiet at night, and “piping hot” was his call for meals. A “scuttlebutt” was a water cask around which the seamen gossiped while waiting for their rations. A ship was “three sheets to the wind” when the lines to the sails broke and the vessel pitched drunkenly out of control. To “turn a blind eye” became a popular expression after Vice-Admiral Nelson deliberately placed his telescope against his blind eye to ignore his superior’s signal flag to retreat.
(When ailing seamen were shielded belowdecks from the adverse elements outside, they were said to be “under the weather.”)
According to tradition, a body to be buried at sea was wrapped in a hammock, along with at least one cannonball. (When the hammock was sewn together, the final thread was often stitched through the victim’s nose, to ensure that he was dead.)
By portraying the natives as both magnificent and less than human, Europeans tried to pretend that their brutal mission of conquest was somehow righteous and heroic.
The cure—that unforbidden fruit which decades later would be furnished to all British seamen, giving them the nickname Limeys—had been right within their grasp.
they could be court-martialed by a panel of Cheap’s fellow officers and condemned to take a walk up Ladder Lane and down Hemp Street.
Ferreting out and documenting all the incontrovertible facts of what had happened on the island—the marauding, the stealing, the whippings, the murders—would have undercut the central claim on which the British Empire tried to justify its rule of other peoples: namely, that its imperial forces, its civilization, were inherently superior. That its officers were gentlemen, not brutes.
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.
I like this description from the Washington post:
"Reading it is like living one of those anxiety
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nightmares in which you’re just trying to get to that job interview, but you’re lost and your teeth are falling out and, wait, when your car dies you realize you’re naked, and then you’re attacked by flesh-eating zombies." Grann begins the book by giving the facts of the fateful voyage of the Wager, part of a five ship Armada whose mission was to attack the Spanish galleon and bring back the treasure to England. "It was January 1740, and the British Empire was racing to mobilize for war against its imperial rival Spain." He then begins the story will the collection of the crew, the "pressing" of any able bodied former seamen who might have tar on their fingers. Even a retirement home for old sailors is raided to find the men needed. I was amazed how many of these men could not swim. So right away you forget that you know the facts of the story and begin a tale of survival like few others. The depictions of scarlet fever, scurvy and starvation will stick with me for a while. The five parts of the story: The Wooden World, Into the Storm, Castaways, Deliverance, and Judgment describe the arc of the story but the details of what these men experienced and how they survived make for excellent reading, think the opposite of Gillian's Island.
Highly recommend.
Lines:
“Whosoever commands the seas commands the trade of the world; whosoever commands the trade of the world commands the riches of the world.”
Constructing a single large warship could require as many as four thousand trees; a hundred acres of forest might be felled.
To “toe the line” derives from when boys on a ship were forced to stand still for inspection with their toes on a deck seam. To “pipe down” was the boatswain’s whistle for everyone to be quiet at night, and “piping hot” was his call for meals. A “scuttlebutt” was a water cask around which the seamen gossiped while waiting for their rations. A ship was “three sheets to the wind” when the lines to the sails broke and the vessel pitched drunkenly out of control. To “turn a blind eye” became a popular expression after Vice-Admiral Nelson deliberately placed his telescope against his blind eye to ignore his superior’s signal flag to retreat.
(When ailing seamen were shielded belowdecks from the adverse elements outside, they were said to be “under the weather.”)
According to tradition, a body to be buried at sea was wrapped in a hammock, along with at least one cannonball. (When the hammock was sewn together, the final thread was often stitched through the victim’s nose, to ensure that he was dead.)
By portraying the natives as both magnificent and less than human, Europeans tried to pretend that their brutal mission of conquest was somehow righteous and heroic.
The cure—that unforbidden fruit which decades later would be furnished to all British seamen, giving them the nickname Limeys—had been right within their grasp.
they could be court-martialed by a panel of Cheap’s fellow officers and condemned to take a walk up Ladder Lane and down Hemp Street.
Ferreting out and documenting all the incontrovertible facts of what had happened on the island—the marauding, the stealing, the whippings, the murders—would have undercut the central claim on which the British Empire tried to justify its rule of other peoples: namely, that its imperial forces, its civilization, were inherently superior. That its officers were gentlemen, not brutes.
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.
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LibraryThing member nancyadair
I love a good adventure story, and The Wager has it all: men against the elements, the breakdown of order, the quest for fame and glory gone awry, the miracle of survival, and a humane justice that forgave what men did to survive.
In 1740, England was at war with Spain. The Wager was part of a
Grann describes the reality of life on the sea in the 18th c. The crowded conditions, the dangerous work, the vermin that carried disease. Sailors dying of ‘ship’s fever’–typhoid–and scurvy, described in chilling detail. The starvation when supplies run low. The endless upkeep of the ship to keep it seaworthy.
By the time the ship reached Cape Horn, the crew was already diminished in ranks and weakened by disease.
Storms and high seas kept the ships from rounding the Cape for months. Some turned back. Some disappeared. The Wager was shipwrecked on a desert island. With few supplies, the men gaunt and starving and in shredded clothes and shoeless, the rule of order broke down. Captain Cheap was determined to fulfill his command; they would repair the ship and keep going. The men only wanted to survive, and that mean turning back to Brazil. Cheap would not give in to the sailor’s demands. He shot a sailor, and the crew believed it made him unfit to be captain. The crew mutinied and left the captain behind with a few men loyal to him.
283 days later, 81 survivors showed up in Brazil. It took them three months, traveling in a cobbled-together and over-crowded ship.
Once they returned to England, their troubles continued. All of the survivors were guilty of some crime that would earn them the death sentence. The ship’s gunner John Bulkeley kept a personal log, which he published as a way of justifying their actions.
Captain Anson’s forces had numbered 2,000, but only 227 men were left when they fought the Spanish galleon, thrillingly described. Anson’s superior planning and organization won the day. The bountiful riches they seized surpassed any other ever taken, and made Anson rich.
Captain Cheap was rescued by natives and, five years after they had set out, arrived in England along with two of his loyal men, ready to defend his honor.
The admirals in charge of the investigation had to consider the rule of order but also the embarrassing war that cost more than Captain Anson had brought back with the Spanish treasure.
Grann shares the rich literary heritage of the Wager’s story. One young crewman, who left the mutineers to return to Captain Cheap, was the grandfather of Lord Byron, who wrote about the trip in his poem “Don Juan.” Numerous accounts were written by crew members and by Grub Street hacks. The tale inspired later writers, including Herman Melville and Patrick O’Brien.
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.
from The Wager by David Grann
The War of Jenkin’s Ear was over by the time the survivors returned to England. It was a horrible waste of men and ships and money. Grann’s book resurrects another gruesome and riveting scene from history.
I received a free egalley from the publisher through NetGalley. My review is fair and unbiased.
In 1740, England was at war with Spain. The Wager was part of a
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squadron led my Captain Anson with instructions to capture a Spanish galleon filled with treasure. They would have to go around treacherous Cape Horn. The Wager had a crew of 250 men under Captain Cheap who had risen up through the ranks and was determined that his first captaincy was a success.Grann describes the reality of life on the sea in the 18th c. The crowded conditions, the dangerous work, the vermin that carried disease. Sailors dying of ‘ship’s fever’–typhoid–and scurvy, described in chilling detail. The starvation when supplies run low. The endless upkeep of the ship to keep it seaworthy.
By the time the ship reached Cape Horn, the crew was already diminished in ranks and weakened by disease.
Storms and high seas kept the ships from rounding the Cape for months. Some turned back. Some disappeared. The Wager was shipwrecked on a desert island. With few supplies, the men gaunt and starving and in shredded clothes and shoeless, the rule of order broke down. Captain Cheap was determined to fulfill his command; they would repair the ship and keep going. The men only wanted to survive, and that mean turning back to Brazil. Cheap would not give in to the sailor’s demands. He shot a sailor, and the crew believed it made him unfit to be captain. The crew mutinied and left the captain behind with a few men loyal to him.
283 days later, 81 survivors showed up in Brazil. It took them three months, traveling in a cobbled-together and over-crowded ship.
Once they returned to England, their troubles continued. All of the survivors were guilty of some crime that would earn them the death sentence. The ship’s gunner John Bulkeley kept a personal log, which he published as a way of justifying their actions.
Captain Anson’s forces had numbered 2,000, but only 227 men were left when they fought the Spanish galleon, thrillingly described. Anson’s superior planning and organization won the day. The bountiful riches they seized surpassed any other ever taken, and made Anson rich.
Captain Cheap was rescued by natives and, five years after they had set out, arrived in England along with two of his loyal men, ready to defend his honor.
The admirals in charge of the investigation had to consider the rule of order but also the embarrassing war that cost more than Captain Anson had brought back with the Spanish treasure.
Grann shares the rich literary heritage of the Wager’s story. One young crewman, who left the mutineers to return to Captain Cheap, was the grandfather of Lord Byron, who wrote about the trip in his poem “Don Juan.” Numerous accounts were written by crew members and by Grub Street hacks. The tale inspired later writers, including Herman Melville and Patrick O’Brien.
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.
from The Wager by David Grann
The War of Jenkin’s Ear was over by the time the survivors returned to England. It was a horrible waste of men and ships and money. Grann’s book resurrects another gruesome and riveting scene from history.
I received a free egalley from the publisher through NetGalley. My review is fair and unbiased.
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LibraryThing member Stbalbach
I've read a lot of books like this and had high hopes, it is David Grann. It's certainly not bad, but Grann is best when he has a strong central character, this is more of a Towering Inferno with lots of parallel disasters diluting the narrative. Furthermore, he sticks to the history close enough,
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and that history is incomplete, so there are gaps. Also while he makes a big deal about how the stories conflicted, he doesn't present conflicting stories, or explain the different version of events. The ending is anti-climatic. Some of this is not the fault of Grann but the material he had to work with. Show Less
Awards
Audie Award (Finalist — History/Biography — 2024)
Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction (Longlist — 2023)
BookTube Prize (Octofinalist — Nonfiction — 2024)
Waterstones Book of the Year (Shortlist — 2023)
Libby Book Award (Finalist — Adult Nonfiction — 2023)
NPR: Books We Love (2023)
The New York Times Notable Books of the Year (Nonfiction — 2023)
Notable Books List (Nonfiction — 2024)
Globe and Mail Top 100 Book (2023)
Chicago Public Library Best of the Best: Adults (Selection — 2023)
Pages
352
ISBN
0385534264 / 9780385534260