the wager new york times book review

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New York Times Bestseller

A TALE OF SHIPWRECK, MUTINY AND MURDER

by David Grann ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 18, 2023

A brisk, absorbing history and a no-brainer for fans of the author’s suspenseful historical thrillers.

The author of Killers of the Flower Moon and The Lost City of Z returns with a rousing story of a maritime scandal.

In 1741, the British vessel the Wager , pressed into service during England’s war with Spain, was shipwrecked in a storm off the coast of Patagonia while chasing a silver-laden Spanish galleon. Though initially part of a fleet, by the time of the shipwreck, the Wager stood alone, and many of its 250 crew members already had succumbed to injury, illness, starvation, or drowning. More than half survived the wreckage only to find themselves stranded on a desolate island. Drawing on a trove of firsthand accounts—logbooks, correspondence, diaries, court-martial testimony, and Admiralty and government records—Grann mounts a chilling, vibrant narrative of a grim maritime tragedy and its dramatic aftermath. Central to his populous cast of seamen are David Cheap, who, through a twist of fate, became captain of the Wager ; Commodore George Anson, who had made Cheap his protégé; formidable gunner John Bulkeley; and midshipman John Byron, grandfather of the poet. Life onboard an 18th-century ship was perilous, as Grann amply shows. Threats included wild weather, enemy fire, scurvy and typhus, insurrection, and even mutiny. On the island, Cheap struggled to maintain authority as factions developed and violence erupted, until a group of survivors left—without Cheap—in rude makeshift boats. Of that group, 29 castaways later washed up on the coast of Brazil, where they spent more than two years in Spanish captivity; and three castaways, including Cheap, landed on the shores of Chile, where they, too, were held for years by the Spanish. Each group of survivors eventually returned to England, where they offered vastly different versions of what had occurred; most disturbingly, each accused the other of mutiny, a crime punishable by hanging. Recounting the tumultuous events in tense detail, Grann sets the Wager episode in the context of European imperialism as much as the wrath of the sea.

Pub Date: April 18, 2023

ISBN: 9780385534260

Page Count: 352

Publisher: Doubleday

Review Posted Online: Feb. 10, 2023

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2023

BIOGRAPHY & MEMOIR | HISTORY | TRUE CRIME | HISTORICAL & MILITARY | SURVIVORS & ADVENTURERS | EXPEDITIONS | WORLD

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Kirkus Reviews' Best Books Of 2017

IndieBound Bestseller

National Book Award Finalist

KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON

The osage murders and the birth of the fbi.

by David Grann ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 18, 2017

Dogged original research and superb narrative skills come together in this gripping account of pitiless evil.

Greed, depravity, and serial murder in 1920s Oklahoma.

During that time, enrolled members of the Osage Indian nation were among the wealthiest people per capita in the world. The rich oil fields beneath their reservation brought millions of dollars into the tribe annually, distributed to tribal members holding "headrights" that could not be bought or sold but only inherited. This vast wealth attracted the attention of unscrupulous whites who found ways to divert it to themselves by marrying Osage women or by having Osage declared legally incompetent so the whites could fleece them through the administration of their estates. For some, however, these deceptive tactics were not enough, and a plague of violent death—by shooting, poison, orchestrated automobile accident, and bombing—began to decimate the Osage in what they came to call the "Reign of Terror." Corrupt and incompetent law enforcement and judicial systems ensured that the perpetrators were never found or punished until the young J. Edgar Hoover saw cracking these cases as a means of burnishing the reputation of the newly professionalized FBI. Bestselling New Yorker staff writer Grann ( The Devil and Sherlock Holmes: Tales of Murder, Madness, and Obsession , 2010, etc.) follows Special Agent Tom White and his assistants as they track the killers of one extended Osage family through a closed local culture of greed, bigotry, and lies in pursuit of protection for the survivors and justice for the dead. But he doesn't stop there; relying almost entirely on primary and unpublished sources, the author goes on to expose a web of conspiracy and corruption that extended far wider than even the FBI ever suspected. This page-turner surges forward with the pacing of a true-crime thriller, elevated by Grann's crisp and evocative prose and enhanced by dozens of period photographs.

Pub Date: April 18, 2017

ISBN: 978-0-385-53424-6

Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2017

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2017

GENERAL HISTORY | TRUE CRIME | UNITED STATES | FIRST/NATIVE NATIONS | HISTORY

BOOK TO SCREEN

IN COLD BLOOD

by Truman Capote ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 7, 1965

"There's got to be something wrong with somebody who'd do a thing like that." This is Perry Edward Smith, talking about himself. "Deal me out, baby...I'm a normal." This is Richard Eugene Hickock, talking about himself. They're as sick a pair as Leopold and Loeb and together they killed a mother, a father, a pretty 17-year-old and her brother, none of whom they'd seen before, in cold blood. A couple of days before they had bought a 100 foot rope to garrote them—enough for ten people if necessary. This small pogrom took place in Holcomb, Kansas, a lonesome town on a flat, limitless landscape: a depot, a store, a cafe, two filling stations, 270 inhabitants. The natives refer to it as "out there." It occurred in 1959 and Capote has spent five years, almost all of the time which has since elapsed, in following up this crime which made no sense, had no motive, left few clues—just a footprint and a remembered conversation. Capote's alternating dossier Shifts from the victims, the Clutter family, to the boy who had loved Nancy Clutter, and her best friend, to the neighbors, and to the recently paroled perpetrators: Perry, with a stunted child's legs and a changeling's face, and Dick, who had one squinting eye but a "smile that works." They had been cellmates at the Kansas State Penitentiary where another prisoner had told them about the Clutters—he'd hired out once on Mr. Clutter's farm and thought that Mr. Clutter was perhaps rich. And this is the lead which finally broke the case after Perry and Dick had drifted down to Mexico, back to the midwest, been seen in Kansas City, and were finally picked up in Las Vegas. The last, even more terrible chapters, deal with their confessions, the law man who wanted to see them hanged, back to back, the trial begun in 1960, the post-ponements of the execution, and finally the walk to "The Corner" and Perry's soft-spoken words—"It would be meaningless to apologize for what I did. Even inappropriate. But I do. I apologize." It's a magnificent job—this American tragedy—with the incomparable Capote touches throughout. There may never have been a perfect crime, but if there ever has been a perfect reconstruction of one, surely this must be it.

Pub Date: Jan. 7, 1965

ISBN: 0375507906

Page Count: 343

Publisher: Random House

Review Posted Online: Oct. 10, 2011

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1965

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by Truman Capote

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The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder Book by David Grann

10 Mar The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder Book by David Grann

Introduction.

In his gripping new nonfiction book The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder , bestselling author David Grann ( Killers of the Flower Moon , The Lost City of Z ) unearths the harrowing true story of the British naval ship the Wager, which wrecked off the coast of Patagonia in 1741. Grann masterfully weaves together a tale of survival, power struggles, and conflicting narratives that sheds light on the costs of imperialism and the elusive nature of truth.

Drawing on a wealth of archival sources, including journals, court records, and other firsthand accounts, Grann reconstructs the doomed voyage of the Wager and the crew’s desperate attempts to return home after the shipwreck. The book has been hailed as one of Grann’s finest, displaying his signature flair for propulsive storytelling, meticulous research, and incisive analysis. The Wager was an instant New York Times bestseller.

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Plot Summary

“The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny, and Murder” by David Grann is a gripping nonfiction account that delves into a dramatic and largely forgotten episode in maritime history. The book is set in the 18th century during the War of Jenkins’ Ear, a conflict between Britain and Spain. The narrative focuses on the British naval ship HMS Wager and its ill-fated voyage.

The Wager, part of a squadron led by George Anson, was tasked with intercepting Spanish treasure galleons in South America. The ships set sail for Cape Horn, at the southern tip of South America, navigating the treacherous Drake’s Passage known for its severe storms and dangerous currents. As fate would have it, the Wager was wrecked near the coast of what is now Chile, stranding its survivors on an uninhabited island without adequate food or freshwater resources.

The situation on the island rapidly deteriorated. Captain David Cheap struggled to maintain order, but low on supplies and wracked by injury and disease, the men soon descended into mutiny and factionalism. Two groups eventually set off in makeshift boats in an attempt to reach civilization – one led by the ship’s captain David Cheap, the other by a charismatic gunner named John Bulkeley. Remarkably, some from each party survived the perilous open-sea journey. But upon returning to England, they told vastly different stories about what transpired, each accusing the other of treachery and murder.

Grann’s narrative not only recounts the harrowing survival tale but also explores the complex dynamics of leadership, loyalty, and survival under extreme conditions. The story also includes a court martial back in Britain, where the returning survivors faced accusations of mutiny and murder.

“The Wager” provides a vivid picture of life at sea during the 18th century, the perils of naval exploration, and the human capacity for both heroism and treachery in the face of adversity. David Grann, through meticulous research and compelling storytelling, resurrects this historical incident, showcasing his ability to weave a suspenseful narrative that is both informative and engaging.

Grann focuses his narrative on three key figures: Captain David Cheap, an ambitious but rigid disciplinarian; John Bulkeley, the competent and courageous gunner; and young midshipman John Byron, who kept a vivid account of the disaster.

Through these men’s eyes, Grann skillfully captures the physical and psychological toll of the ordeal, as well as the clash of personalities and shifting power dynamics among the survivors. While Cheap clings to the navy’s hierarchy and his own command, Bulkeley emerges as a natural leader to whom many men turn. The portrayals are nuanced and empathetic, revealing each character’s flaws, merits, and motivations.

Themes and Motifs

At its core, The Wager grapples with questions about the limits of human endurance, the tensions between order and anarchy, and the subjectivity of historical truth. Grann explores how the survivors’ accounts were shaped by their biases, self-interest, and notions of honor and duty.

The shipwreck also serves as a grim metaphor for the costs of British imperialism and colonialism. Grann situates the Wager’s mission within the broader context of Europe’s exploitation of South America and the destruction wrought on indigenous peoples. Notions of civilization and savagery are upended as the British sailors turn on each other in a Hobbesian struggle.

Writing Style and Tone

Grann is a master of narrative nonfiction, and his vivid, economical prose brings the story to life with gripping immediacy. Take this description of the ship battling a storm:

The sails convulsed and the ropes whipped and the hulls creaked as if they might splinter. The ships’ prows, including the Centurion’s red-painted lion, plunged into the deep hollows, before rearing upward pleadingly toward the heavens.

Grann also has a keen eye for the telling detail, from the rations of rancid cheese to the blood-soaked scraps of clothing. The tone is authoritative and evenhanded, but laced with a current of moral outrage at the cruelty and injustice on display.

Evaluation and Conclusion

The Wager is a spellbinding and thought-provoking read that cements Grann’s reputation as one of our finest nonfiction writers. By excavating this forgotten episode of maritime history, Grann sheds light on enduring truths about human nature and the myths nations tell about themselves.

While it lacks the contemporary resonance of some of his previous books, The Wager is still an engrossing, deeply researched work that will appeal to fans of narrative history, survival stories, and true crime. It’s an incredible tale of shipwreck and savagery that lingers long after the final page.

Favorite Quotes

“Each man in the squadron carried, along with a sea chest, his own burdensome story.”

This opening line beautifully encapsulates the book’s central theme of competing narratives and subjective truth.

“Although the dispute centered on a simple matter of which way to go, it raised profound questions about the nature of leadership, loyalty, betrayal, courage, and patriotism.”

Grann frames the survivors’ power struggle as a microcosm of larger moral and political quandaries.

“The powerful narrative reveals the deeper meaning of the events on The Wager, showing that it was not only the captain and crew who ended up on trial, but the very idea of empire.”

The book exposes the dark underbelly of British imperialism and the human toll of colonization.

With The Wager , David Grann has crafted a gripping and resonant work of narrative nonfiction that ranks among his finest books. This harrowing tale of shipwreck and survival offers a bracing glimpse into the best and worst of human nature under extreme duress. Meticulously researched and masterfully told, it’s an unforgettable story that will leave readers pondering questions of truth, power, and moral culpability. Highly recommended for fans of Grann’s previous work and readers of narrative history.

Spoilers/How Does It End

After returning to England, the two groups of Wager survivors tell contradictory stories at an Admiralty hearing. Captain Cheap portrays Bulkeley and the others as mutineers, while they accuse Cheap of murder and tyranny. In the end, no one is seriously punished, as the Admiralty is reluctant to publicize the embarrassing affair. The survivors go their separate ways, forever marked by their ordeal.

Young John Byron, who sided with the Captain, goes on to have a notable naval career, keeping the story alive through his written account. But the Wager incident fades into obscurity, a shameful reminder of the human cost of Britain’s imperial ambitions. The book suggests that in the end, the real villain is not any one individual, but the system of power and exploitation they served.

About the Author

David Grann is a #1 New York Times bestselling author and an award-winning staff writer at The New Yorker magazine. His previous books include Killers of the Flower Moon , The Lost City of Z , and The White Darkness . Grann’s stories have appeared in several anthologies and been translated into over 30 languages. Before joining The New Yorker in 2003, he was a senior editor at The New Republic and The Hill.

Grann is known for his exhaustive research, immersive storytelling, and ability to uncover buried truths. Many of his stories center on obsessive quests and moral reckonings. He holds master’s degrees in international relations from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and creative writing from Boston University. Grann lives in New York with his wife and two children.

Publication History and Reception

The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder was published in hardcover by Doubleday on April 18, 2023. It debuted at #1 on the New York Times Bestseller list and has garnered rave reviews from critics. The book was selected as one of the best books of 2023 so far by outlets including Amazon, Goodreads, and Barnes & Noble.

Film rights to The Wager were acquired by New Regency and Plan B Entertainment in 2022, with a feature adaptation to be directed by Martin Scorsese and star Leonardo DiCaprio. This will mark the second Grann book adapted by the Oscar-winning duo, following Killers of the Flower Moon (2023).

Bibliographic Details

• The book focuses on the 1741 wreck of the British ship the Wager off the coast of Patagonia and the crew’s harrowing attempts to survive and return home.
• It draws on archival sources including journals, court records, and firsthand accounts to reconstruct the events.
• The book debuted at #1 on the New York Times nonfiction bestseller list.
• Film rights were acquired by Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio, who plan to adapt it as a feature film for Apple.
• It is Grann’s fifth nonfiction book, following bestsellers like Killers of the Flower Moon and The Lost City of Z.

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Review: 'The Wager,' by David Grann

NONFICTION: "The Wager" is a soaring literary accomplishment and seductive adventure tale.

By Hamilton Cain

The War of Jenkin's Ear (1739-1748) has long slipped beyond the horizon of popular imagination and into the study carrels of aspiring historians, but at the time it was a flex for the Spanish and British empires as they expanded influence and filled coffers. In his enthralling, seamlessly crafted "The Wager," David Grann re-creates an all-but-forgotten episode from that conflict: the calamitous voyage and shipwreck of HMS Wager off the coast of Chile, and the survivors' fraught treks home. This is the stuff that sea shanties and sailor yarns are made of.

As the two countries mustered arms, the Crown dispatched Commodore George Anson and a small armada on a side mission: to vanquish a Spanish galleon laden with treasure. A lesser vessel, the Wager was captained by the egomaniacal David Cheap, Anson's protégé, determined to prove his mettle. Among the hundreds of men onboard were John Bulkeley, a robust, charismatic gunner; and teenaged John Byron, an aristocratic midshipman and grandfather of the future poet. (Grann draws heavily from their journals.)

Social hierarchies didn't stop at water's edge, but rather applied to the "wooden world" as the ships tacked across the Atlantic.

Anson's armada floundered while rounding Cape Horn, battered by punishing gales and towering waves. Scurvy and other plagues whittled their ranks. The Wager fell behind, buffeted by an onslaught of poor weather until it sank near a desolate Patagonian island.

Grann evokes the moment in a flurry of kinetic clauses: "The bowsprit cleaved, windows burst, treenails popped, planks shattered, cabins collapsed, decks caved in. Water flooded the lower portions of the ship, snaking from chamber to chamber, filling nooks and crannies."

The crew scrambled to shore. For months they scavenged for food, grappled with madness and theft, quarreled incessantly, buried their dead. The taboo of cannibalism crept closer. Anger mounted, as did whispers of the word "mutiny." Cheap and Bulkeley sparred as Lt. Bligh and Fletcher Christian would 50 years later.

After a sudden murder, Bulkeley and most of the men departed on a longboat, headed back to the Straits of Magellan and then on to Brazil, abandoning Cheap, Byron and a few loyalists. Grann's admiration for the gunner's bravery and smarts shines throughout "The Wager," as he observes of Bulkeley's logbook: "The account was something striking in English letters ... packed with more narrative and personal detail than a traditional logbook, and the story was told in a bracing new voice — that of a hard-nosed seaman. In contrast to the often flowery and convoluted prose of the time, it was written in a crisp style that reflected Bulkeley's personality, and was, in many ways, distinctly modern."

After horrific setbacks and losses, the castaways reached Brazil, where they recuperated, eventually journeying back to England.

Cheap and Byron took a more circuitous route to London, joining Bulkeley and others in a court martial, a clash of tales ginned up by a tabloid press, the hangman's noose a distinct possibility. The outcome was shocking. It's a testament to Grann's formidable skills that the denouement contains the book's weightiest revelations about the motivations of empires, the needless sacrifice of men's lives, and the atrocities of colonialism and racism.

He delicately teases out class censures, gentlemen arrayed against commoners conscripted ("pressed") into service, "another ignoble chapter in the long, grim history of nations sending their troops off on ill-conceived, poorly funded, bungled military adventures."

"The Wager," then, is an accomplishment as vividly realized and ingeniously constructed as Grann's previous work, on par with Jon Krakauer's "Into Thin Air" and Sebastian Junger's "The Perfect Storm." Welcome a classic.

Hamilton Cain reviews for the Star Tribune, New York Times Book Review, Washington Post and Boston Globe. He lives in Brooklyn.

The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder

By: David Grann.

Publisher: Doubleday, 352 pages, $30.

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