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David Grann's "The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder" -- the story of the shipwreck and its aftermath -- features scenery-chewing characters, unexpected twists and an almost unimaginable amount of human misery. Grann will discuss his book May 4 at an author event at Yellow Box Theatre in Naperville.
David Grann's The Wager, the true story of the titular British warship's 1741 wreck on a desolate island south of Chile, has much to say about 18th-century naval life, the survival impulse, republicanism, and the breakdown of humanity under pressure—if you make it past the first half-dozen or so chapters.
To write his latest book, David Grann traveled to the remote Pacific island where 18th century sailors turned to mutiny and murder. "A voyage always reveals the soul," he tells Esquire.
Survivors of the 18th-century crash of the HMS Wager undertook the perilous task of salvaging what was left of the vessel. Then, mutiny followed.
The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder