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The Wager

David Grann, 2023

A British warship wrecks off Patagonia in 1741. Starving survivors turn to mutiny and murder, then give the Admiralty wildly conflicting versions of the truth.

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26 parts, about 32 minutes to read.

Why read it

  • Reconstructs the wreck of a British warship off Patagonia and the starvation, factions and mutiny that followed
  • Sets two conflicting survivor accounts against each other, from a captain who shot a man to a gunner who led the mutiny
  • Shows how a court martial that sidestepped the mutiny and a ghostwritten voyage account shaped the official story

Who it is for

  • Readers of survival and sea adventure stories
  • History fans drawn to true tales of mutiny
  • Readers curious how rival accounts shape the historical record

What the summary covers

  1. Prologue: Two Boats2 min
  2. The First Lieutenant2 min
  3. A Gentleman Volunteer1 min
  4. The Gunner2 min
  5. Toward Cape Horn1 min
  6. Scurvy2 min
  7. Alone at Sea1 min
  8. The Gulf of Pain2 min
  9. Wreckage1 min
  10. Starving on the Island1 min
  11. Cheap's Outpost1 min
  12. The Kawésqar1 min
  13. Factions and Floggings1 min
  14. The Shooting of Cozens1 min
  15. Two Routes Home1 min
  16. The Mutiny2 min
  17. Byron Turns Back to His Captain1 min
  18. The Speedwell Goes South1 min
  19. Cheap Tries to Go North1 min
  20. Through the Strait to Brazil1 min
  21. Bulkeley's Journal Reaches England1 min
  22. Anson Takes the Galleon1 min
  23. Cheap's Party Returns1 min
  24. The Court Martial1 min
  25. The Version That Won1 min
  26. Afterward1 min

Recommended by

  • Maureen CorriganBook critic for NPR's Fresh Air
    David Grann’s latest work of narrative nonfiction, The Wager, is part Robinson Crusoe, part Lord of the Flies
  • Barack Obama44th President of the United States

About the author

  • David GrannStaff writer at The New Yorker, journalist and author
    • Born on 10 March 1968.
    • Graduated from Connecticut College in 1989 with a degree in government.
    • Became executive editor of the Washington newspaper The Hill in 1995.
    • Became a senior editor at The New Republic in 1996.
    • Joined The New Yorker as a staff writer in 2003.
    • Received the George Polk Award in 2009 for his New Yorker piece on the Cameron Todd Willingham case.
    • His first book, The Lost City of Z, was published by Doubleday in February 2009.
    • His book Killers of the Flower Moon was a National Book Award finalist and won an Edgar Award for best true crime book.

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