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The Wager
- Narrated by: Dion Graham
- Length: 8 hrs and 28 mins
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Publisher's Summary
THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES NO. 1 BESTSELLER
*LONGLISTED FOR THE 2023 BALLIE GIFFORD PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION*
*SELECTED AS ONE OF BARACK OBAMA'S FAVOURITE BOOKS OF 2023*
From the international bestselling author of KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON and THE LOST CITY OF Z, a mesmerising story of shipwreck, mutiny and murder, culminating in a court martial that reveals a shocking truth.
On 28th January 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 chasing a Spanish treasure-filled galleon, The Wager was wrecked on a desolate island off the coast of Patagonia. The crew, marooned for months and facing starvation, built the flimsy craft and sailed for more than a hundred days, traversing 2,500 miles of storm-wracked seas. They were greeted as heroes.
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 counter-charges of their own, of a tyrannical and murderous captain and his henchmen. 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.
Critic Reviews
'The beauty of The Wager unfurls like a great sail... one of the finest nonfiction books I’ve ever read' Guardian
‘The greatest sea story ever told’ Spectator
‘Combining impeccable research with exceptional storytelling powers, [Grann] spirits the reader aboard a creaking wooden ship trapped at the eye of a howling storm… No book that you are likely to read this year or next will prove more dramatic and enthralling than Grann’s magnificent story of both life at sea and out on the desolate, mist-laden island whose solitary peak the Wager’s unfortunate crew aptly named Mount Misery’ Miranda Seymour, Financial Times
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What listeners say about The Wager
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Michael Hole
- 20-07-2024
Incredible story of survival and hardship. Excellent reader too.
I loved it all. We have such true, incredible stories from history, many of which are no longer remembered. This is one of those stories. If it weren’t true, you’d think it was a just a tall tale.
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- Mykhaylo Chumak
- 04-06-2023
Oustanding
I enjoyed the story and the narration thoroughly. Clearly written, captivating and well-narrated. Highly recommended if you have an interest in maritime and colonial history.
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- Anonymous User
- 04-07-2023
Great story terrible narration
Wow if you want to hear an American mess up English this is the place
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- Kincade
- 18-01-2024
Amazing story
A lot of people didn’t like the narrator but they were ok. The story is incredible I devoured it like a shipwrecked seaman
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- Judith
- 06-04-2024
Performance irritating; story great
The story is fascinating. Unfortunately, the narration lets it down. Words are mispronounced (eg. ‘pennant’, ‘Juan’), and the delivery style is exaggerated, as if trying to interest a 5 year old. The issues with the narration detract and distract.
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- DJ Shearer
- 22-09-2023
Brilliant read
A incredible story well told. The narrator was talented and brought life to the story, though British English artist would have provided the realism. Throughly recommend.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Anonymous User
- 13-06-2023
Ripping Tale of True Adventure
This is an adventure story matching Shackleton’s voyage or the wreck of the Batavia, maybe one of the most incredible and forgotten in all history. Thoroughly researched and well narrated I recommend it very highly.
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- Andrew Singleton
- 29-09-2023
Ripping, incredible yarn
A wonderful, compelling story, told with brio. Deeply researched but fast paced. Narration is excellent. Tone just right for the style of book
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- Andrea
- 12-12-2023
Great adventure
Engaging telling on the history of a remote and beautiful part of the world. What hasn’t been written tells a lot.
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- Jordan
- 22-06-2023
Amazing Story!
Love this book! An amazing story from a fascinating time in history that I’m astonished I’d not come across before.
The author deals with the subject superbly, skilfully pulling at deep and complex themes like human nature, civilisation, imperialism, morality, justice. The agency of the men was respected, their actions and reasoning illuminated by the impartiality of the author and the light of fair a historical reckoning.
The characters were developed well, and the story told through them in a way that did not impose one or another particular narrative. The contradictions and ambiguities in the various survivor’s accounts were laid bare, doubt left unresolved, all while telling a cohesive story.
I liked the narration too. I admit a general preference for english voices in narration, as it’s what I grew up with, and I felt a little trepidation hearing and American accent begin telling such an English tale. I soon warmed to it though, the story was told very well, with great clarity and emotion.
Thank you for a lovely experience!
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