The Wager. A True Story of Shipwreck, Mutiny, and Murder

Year 1740, Britain. His Majesty's ship "The Wager" sets out in pursuit of a Spanish galleon. On board are 250 healthy, strong men. Year 1742, Brazil. A makeshift boat arrives at the shore with the remnants of the "Wager" crew — 30 half-dead, exhausted sailors who survived scurvy, shipwreck, managed to reach an uninhabited island, survived, and returned home. The homeland welcomed them as heroes. They were written about in newspapers, and each received financial compensation. And four years later... three more crew members of the "Wager" returned from hell — the captain and two of his assistants, who had been considered dead for several years. And their version of the events shocked everyone... The British authorities decided to convene a military tribunal — to determine what actually happened — and the guilty party would face the death penalty... Cinematic and gripping, David Grann's book "The Wager" is the story of a voyage in which everything went wrong; it is a saga of how harsh conditions on the brink of survival can strip away humanity, drive one to betrayal... and even murder.