The Wager: a tale of shipwreck, mutiny and murder
(Large Print)
Author:
Published:
New York : Random House Large Print in association with Doubleday, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, [2023].
Format:
Large Print
Edition:
First Large Print edition.
Physical Desc:
xiv, 492 pages (large print), 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (black and white), maps, portraits, facsimilies ; 24 cm
Status:
Description
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Killers of the Flower Moon and The Lost City of Z, a mesmerizing story of shipwreck, survival, and savagery, culminating in a court martial that reveals a shocking truth
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 had a very different story to tell. 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 captain 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.
The Wager is a grand tale of human behavior at the extremes told by one of our greatest nonfiction writers. Grann’s recreation of the hidden world on a British warship rivals the work of Patrick O’Brian, his portrayal of the castaways’ desperate straits stands up to the classics of survival writing such as The Endurance, and his account of the court martial has the savvy of a Scott Turow thriller. As always with Grann’s work, the incredible twists of the narrative hold the reader spellbound. Most powerfully, he unearths the deeper meaning of the events, showing that it was not only the Wager’s captain and crew who were on trial – it was the very idea of empire.
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 had a very different story to tell. 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 captain 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.
The Wager is a grand tale of human behavior at the extremes told by one of our greatest nonfiction writers. Grann’s recreation of the hidden world on a British warship rivals the work of Patrick O’Brian, his portrayal of the castaways’ desperate straits stands up to the classics of survival writing such as The Endurance, and his account of the court martial has the savvy of a Scott Turow thriller. As always with Grann’s work, the incredible twists of the narrative hold the reader spellbound. Most powerfully, he unearths the deeper meaning of the events, showing that it was not only the Wager’s captain and crew who were on trial – it was the very idea of empire.
Copies
Location
Call Number
Status
Last Check-In
Hurley Large Print
LP 910.91 GRA
In Transit
Iron River Adult Nonfiction
LP 910.91 GRA pb
Available
Sep 18, 2024
Lac Courte Oreilles Large Print Nonfiction
LP 910.91 GRA
In Transit
More Details
Language:
English
ISBN:
9780593678251, 0593678257
Notes
General Note
"Maps designed by Jeffrey L. Ward"--T.p. verso.
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (pages [377]-467) and index.
Description
"From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Killers of the Flower Moon and The Lost City of Z, a mesmerizing story of shipwreck, survival, and savagery, culminating in a court martial that reveals a shocking truth 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 had a very different story to tell. 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 captain 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. The Wager is a grand tale of human behavior at the extremes told by one of our greatest nonfiction writers. Grann's recreation of the hidden world on a British warship rivals the work of Patrick O'Brian, his portrayal of the castaways' desperate straits stands up to the classics of survival writing such as The Endurance, and his account of the court martial has the savvy of a Scott Turow thriller. As always with Grann's work, the incredible twists of the narrative hold the reader spellbound. Most powerfully, he unearths the deeper meaning of the events, showing that it was not only the Wager's captain and crew who were on trial - it was the very idea of empire"--,Provided by publisher.
Citations
APA Citation (style guide)
Grann, D. (2023). The Wager: a tale of shipwreck, mutiny and murder. First Large Print edition. New York, Random House Large Print in association with Doubleday, a division of Penguin Random House LLC.
Chicago / Turabian - Author Date Citation (style guide)Grann, David. 2023. The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder. New York, Random House Large Print in association with Doubleday, a division of Penguin Random House LLC.
Chicago / Turabian - Humanities Citation (style guide)Grann, David, The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder. New York, Random House Large Print in association with Doubleday, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, 2023.
MLA Citation (style guide)Grann, David. The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder. First Large Print edition. New York, Random House Large Print in association with Doubleday, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, 2023.
Note! Citation formats are based on standards as of July 2022. Citations contain only title, author, edition, publisher, and year published. Citations should be used as a guideline and should be double checked for accuracy.
Staff View
Grouped Work ID:
df26f215-1330-1a24-4362-08cf75593583
QR Code
Record Information
| Last Sierra Extract Time | Jan 01, 2025 11:13:35 AM |
|---|---|
| Last File Modification Time | Jan 01, 2025 11:16:30 AM |
| Last Grouped Work Modification Time | Jan 02, 2025 09:34:21 PM |
MARC Record
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| 245 | 1 | 4 | |a The Wager : |b a tale of shipwreck, mutiny and murder / |c David Grann. |
| 250 | |a First Large Print edition. | ||
| 264 | 1 | |a New York : |b Random House Large Print in association with Doubleday, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, |c [2023] | |
| 264 | 4 | |c © 2023 | |
| 300 | |a xiv, 492 pages (large print), 16 unnumbered pages of plates : |b illustrations (black and white), maps, portraits, facsimilies ; |c 24 cm | ||
| 336 | |a text |b txt |2 rdacontent | ||
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| 500 | |a "Maps designed by Jeffrey L. Ward"--T.p. verso. | ||
| 504 | |a Includes bibliographical references (pages [377]-467) and index. | ||
| 505 | 0 | |a Part one: The wooded world --The First Lieutenant -- A gentleman volunteer -- The gunner -- Part two: Into the storm -- Dead reckoning -- The storm within the storm -- Alone -- The gulf of pain -- Part three: Castaways -- Wreckage -- The beast -- Our new town -- Nomads of the sea -- The lord of mount misery -- Extemities -- Affections of the people -- The ark -- My mutineers -- Part four: Deliverance -- Byron's choice -- Port of God's mercy -- The haunting -- The day of our deliverance -- Part five: Judgment -- A literary rebellion -- The prize -- Grub Street hacks -- The docket -- The court-martial -- The version that won -- Epilogue. | |
| 520 | |a "From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Killers of the Flower Moon and The Lost City of Z, a mesmerizing story of shipwreck, survival, and savagery, culminating in a court martial that reveals a shocking truth 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 had a very different story to tell. 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 captain 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. The Wager is a grand tale of human behavior at the extremes told by one of our greatest nonfiction writers. Grann's recreation of the hidden world on a British warship rivals the work of Patrick O'Brian, his portrayal of the castaways' desperate straits stands up to the classics of survival writing such as The Endurance, and his account of the court martial has the savvy of a Scott Turow thriller. As always with Grann's work, the incredible twists of the narrative hold the reader spellbound. Most powerfully, he unearths the deeper meaning of the events, showing that it was not only the Wager's captain and crew who were on trial - it was the very idea of empire"-- |c Provided by publisher. | ||
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| 650 | 0 | |a Mutiny |z Great Britain. | |
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