Incredible journey of a British Armada headed to the West Coast of South America to intercept a Spanish galleon filled with silver from the New World. Britain and Spain are at war and it would be quite a coup to capture this ship and its wealth.

But, it is 1740, the Atlantic Ocean is a wide empty expanse, the Cape of Hope is treacherous and the season is all wrong. Disease is rampant on the ships, many of the sailors have been impressed so aren’t necessarily the most adept and in some cases are actually quite old and/or infirm. Still, the Armada, or most of it, manages to make it around the Horn. Two ships turn back and the others become separated in high seas and poor visibility. One of them, The Wager, hits the rocky shore and is destroyed.

Alone, and stranded on an uninhabited, swampy, rocky island the crew and its officers must try to survive and maybe, get back home to England, if they cannot find the rest of the ships and complete their mission for the Crown. This is the story of the new horrors these men faced after the almost 6 months of the horrors of 16th century life in the World of Wood–the Royal British Navy and its strata of authority and servitude in an inhospitable barely seaworthy vessel.

Riveting, horrifying and mesmerizing–took only 2 days to read this page turner.

David Grann’s “The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny, and Murder” tells an entirely different story than his previous masterpiece, “Killers of the Flower Moon,” in the same captivating way. Understanding the complex life of a sailor, a journey that requires a great deal of background knowledge, is an adventurous experience that intrigues and excites you. You feel like Grann is learning as he goes, adding to the thrill of the narrative.

The early stages of the novel are dominated by tales of scurvy and typhus, a setting that resonates with modern-minded readers. The mission, a glorified treasure hunt, unfolds in a less-than-ideal manner. Even without the historical details, the shipwreck itself is a thrilling read. Grann’s masterful skill in immersing the reader in the star-crossed boat, making you feel transported and involved, is commendable.

Roger Ebert often quoted Francois Truffaut, who said you couldn’t make an anti-war film because movies excite intense combat scenes. Surprisingly, that same theory applies to life at sea. The crew of the Wager had few rations and a barely functioning boat, but they still attempted to complete their mission. I have trouble getting through a lesson without the Internet.

Since the title promises shipwreck, mutiny, and murder, we should see all three coming, but how the crew disintegrates is the stuff of legends. When you write your law, this can happen. The mutineers kept detailed records so Grann could illustrate the depths of this mayhem. Regardless of what was available, the amount of research involved was astronomical, just like his other work.

I felt guilty enjoying the ride when such suffering appeared imminent. Grann (if you haven’t read any of his books, get on that) has a knack for finding horrifying, intriguing, and unknown pieces of history. What a book!

Meticulously researched and deeply detailed, this is the story of an ill-fated British warship, the Wager. Although an entire fleet left England in 1740 on a secret mission against the Spanish, only one ship returned to England. A couple of ragtag groups of shipwrecked survivors, who endured unimaginable privation and hardship, also made it home more than two years after setting sail.

David Grann literally takes the reader onto the deck of the Wager. The reader is swept along as the crew weathers storms, scurvy, and finally, shipwreck. He focuses on the stories of a handful of the officers and seamen who played critical roles in the fate of the ship and its crew. Their thoughts, fears, and determination make for riveting reading.

The book is broken into four sections: pre-mission preparation, the disastrous voyage, the desperate struggle for survival after the shipwreck, and the improbable return of the few survivors to England. The conflicting accounts of the voyage and shipwreck by these survivors adds to the drama. Amazingly, after enduring great hardship to finally return home, the survivors are rewarded with a trial to judge their actions and, potential hanging.

While this is an absorbing and fascinating book, the story takes a long time to get going. There is an overabundance of detail on shipbuilding and the pre-trip preparation, as well as on the other ships in the fleet. However, once the fleet sets sail, the book takes off.

Set in 1740, this is the story of the treacherous journey of six English warships, the Wager among them, with the secret mission of capturing Spanish silver and gold near the tip of South America. While rounding Cape Horn, and battling an outbreak of scurvy, the weather conditions turned atrocious, and the Wager became separated from the rest of the squadron. Shipwrecked on a desolated island, the surviving crew struggles against the elements, splitting into two groups: one that mutinied against their Captain, David Cheap, and a smaller group that remained loyal to him. Five months after the shipwreck, self-elected Captain Bulkeley and his mutinous group of 80 members set off in a schooner, losing and abandoning more than half of its crew on their on their way to Brazil, eventually arriving back in England at the beginning of 1943.

Here their troubles continued, as the survivors made it back with conflicting stories, knowing that they were guilty of some crime or another that would earn them the death sentence. To justify his actions, John Bulkeley even published his story based on his personal log as a way of justifying their actions. Five and a half years after setting out from England, Captain Cheap arrived back in England along with two of his loyal men, ready to defend his honor. In an attempt to determine the truth, the English admirals start a trial to investigate these contradicting versions of the truth, and a way to contain the catastrophic results and costs of this expedition.

Based on personal and detailed diaries of the captains and seamen, this book has elements of true crime and history. It gives you a true sense of daily life on a ship, the crowded conditions, the dangerous work, deaths due to typhoid fever and scurvy, the starvation when supplies run low, and what struggling to survive in an inhospitable land does to your psyche, all described in chilling detail.

I am so happy to review this book, The Wager. Two months ago I just finished David Grann’s book The Lost City of Z which I devoured and gave a 5/5 stars.

Grann is an engaging and amazing storyteller. I appreciated that this book was so meticulously researched and the author did a great job presenting the sides of each of the characters in the book so we could form our own decisions on what we deemed right/wrong (or simply who to cheer for). I had empathy for all the characters in this story due to the authors fair descriptions of the trials and tribulations each faced! I love a book that I can learn from yet, at the same time, is a page turner-which this hit out of the park!

What makes this story so fascinating is the story covers so many facets; it is not just a shipwreck story. The focus of the story changes to a mutiny (or is it even a mutiny if the ships is no longer at Sea), to a survival story, to a morale conflict story (who should be sacrificed and based on what) to a legal story (the court martial), and finally a good history refresher of this fascinating time in history.. My only challenge was in the beginning I feel I had read or watched shows with many of the scenes of illness/sickness/scurvy/survival of the ship and not a lot was new to me. But the last 2/3 of the book was amazing including the painful decisions that had to be made by so many; including the scene where 4 Marines had to be left on the island, to the Captain shooting a mutineer which was justified by him and others to preserve order..

There was so much action in this book. Even when a few of the ships landed safely there was the court martial event-and interesting on what decisions were made based on England’s desire for the world to focus on their one huge win, the capture of the Spanish Treasure ship. Danger lurked as one of the men tried publish a book in which many others tried to stop the publishing due to the fear of the events making them look guilty and subject to a court martial. The story leads us to the different versions of books written by the different people from these ships, but ultimately what we choose what we want to believe as the reader.

I am so relieved I was never on a ship during those times and would be a horrible Captain-making tough decisions daily-I will continue to be a reader of these books only ;).

I cannot wait to read Grann’s other book, Killers of the Flower Moon and any future books he writes!
Thank you!