The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder by David Grann
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This is the best book I’ve read all year by far. It’s a must-read. It’s a total page-turner almost from the beginning although it takes a few chapters to introduce the key figures and their backstory. This is the true story of a harrowing misadventure of a task force of English ships sent around Cape Horn in 1740 to prey on a Spanish Galleon thought to be laden with treasure. The group becomes separated in the notorious storms in that region. One ship in particular, The Wager, is shipwrecked on the Patagonian shore. Thereafter is a tale – many tales – of death and disease and heroism and bravery and cowardice and resourcefulness and deviousness. It’s a cross between Lord of the Flies and Horatio Hornblower 1 – 11. and Robinson Crusoe. Some survive. Some don’t. I don’t want to spoil it beyond that but the subtitle tells you there’s a lot more: “A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny, and Murder.”
The book is thoroughly researched with many direct quotes from log books and other original sources, but the book reads like a well-paced novel, not a white paper. There are many truths here and they are not consistent. You can judge the officers and seamen and the entire British navy for yourself after finishing it — or maybe you’ll decide you shouldn’t judge anybody.