My Review* of David Grann's "The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder"

 Shipwreck and Survival Around Cape Horn

 

Author David Grann knows how to spin a yarn. He tells the story of the Wager, a British warship on a mission to seize Spanish treasure during the War of Jenkins Ear in 1740. The convoy is led by George Anson who succeeds in circumnavigating the world and seizing Spanish treasure off the coast of the Philippines. The Wager is not so lucky.

 

After barely making it through the Straits of Magellan the Wager runs aground on an island off the Chilean coast. It is there that we see a struggle for survival that is aided by some temporary help from Indigenous people from the mainland. It is a long struggle involving near starvation on the island and the crew ultimately gets off by fashioning an ark out of a small landing craft from the mother ship. That tiny ark makes it through the perilous straits and ends up in Brazil, quite an achievement in seamanship.

 

The story is told through the eyes of three main characters. The Captain, David Cheap; John Bulkeley the gunner, and the 16-year-old John Byron, who would become the grandfather of Lord Byron, the poet. It is Bulkeley who is the one who ultimately takes charge of the situation, and it is he who chronicles the events upon their return to England.

 

What I found most interesting was the daily life and daily hardships aboard ship in the days of sail. It was a hard life and the sailors had to deal with the harsh elements, limited navigation equipment, epidemics, and the ongoing threat of scurvy. Absent Vitamin C, the body deteriorates, skin turns black, and teeth fall out and this is what happened to much of the crew. I also learned the origin of such present-day terms as “toeing the line,” “under the weather,” and “learning the ropes” had its origins in the British Navy.

 

Grann tells a true story that he writes like a novel. The book held my interest throughout, and it is an enjoyable read.

*- Amazon is, yet again, late in posting. Amazon posted on 12/16 with the following URL: Shipwreck and Survival Around Cape Horn (amazon.com)