The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder

In 1740, the British vessel Wager was one of a five-ship fleet on a secret mission to capture a Spanish treasure-filled galleon; the venture was intended to fund England’s war with Spain. The trip involved navigating around Cape Horn to get to the Pacific Ocean. National Book Award finalist Grann (Killers of the Flower Moon) explains that the Wager wrecked on a desolate island off the coast of Patagonia, where the captain and some of his crew had a falling out that resulted in a mutiny. The mutineers abandoned the captain and other crew members and sailed to Brazil, where they were considered heroes after crossing nearly 3,000 miles of stormy seas. But the marooned captain and two of his officers also survived, made it to Chile, and informed everyone of the mutiny. A court martial was convened, but the outcome was not what everyone expected. Part of Grann’s thorough research includes original ship logs and other intriguing documents; 35 pages of this book are devoted to footnotes.