The Wager
A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder
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The Wager
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Narrated by:
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Dion Graham
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David Grann
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Written by:
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David Grann
About this listen
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the author of Killers of the Flower Moon, a thrilling story of shipwreck, survival, and savagery, culminating in a court-martial that reveals a shocking truth. 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.
A Best Book of the Year: The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The New Yorker, TIME, Smithsonian, NPR, Vulture, Kirkus Reviews
“Riveting...Reads like a thriller, tackling a multilayered history—and imperialism—with gusto.”—Time
"A tour de force of narrative nonfiction.”—The Wall Street Journal
On January 28, 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 the Wager had been chasing a Spanish treasure-filled galleon known as “the prize of all the oceans,” it had wrecked on a desolate island off the coast of Patagonia. The men, after being marooned for months and facing starvation, built the flimsy craft and sailed for more than a hundred days, traversing nearly 3,000 miles of storm-wracked seas. They were greeted as heroes.
But then...six months later, another, even more decrepit craft landed on the coast of Chile. This boat contained just three castaways, and they told a very different story. The thirty sailors who landed in Brazil were not heroes—they were mutineers. The first group responded with countercharges of their own, of a tyrannical and murderous senior officer and his henchmen. It became clear that 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.
The Wager is a grand tale of human behavior at the extremes told by one of our greatest nonfiction writers. Grann’s recreation of the hidden world on a British warship rivals the work of Patrick O’Brian, his portrayal of the castaways’ desperate straits stands up to the classics of survival writing such as The Endurance, and his account of the court-martial has the savvy of a Scott Turow thriller. As always with Grann’s work, the incredible twists of the narrative hold the listener spellbound.
©2023 David Grann (P)2023 Random House AudioYou may also enjoy...
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What the critics say
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
A Best Book of the Year: The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, TIME, NPR, Esquire, BookPage
“The most gripping sea-yarn I’ve read in years….A tour de force of narrative nonfiction. Mr. Grann’s account show how storytelling, whether to judges or readers, can shape individual and national fortunes–as well as our collective memories.”—Wall Street Journal
“Glorious, steely…a tightly written, relentless, blow-by-blow account that is hard to put down”—The Washington Post
“As much a rousing adventure as an exploration of the power of narratives to shape our perception of reality.”—The New York Times
What listeners say about The Wager
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Murray Campbell
- 2023-12-10
Worst narration I’ve heard on Audible
Can hardly listen to narrator. Has a breathless style that is patently insincere. Also, tenor of narration rarely reflects plot, which suggests he doesn’t understand the book. Exposition paragraphs get the same breathless delivery as action passages. Lastly, annoying habit of pronouncing Spanish words with Spanish rather than English pronunciation- comes across as a “show off” when he does so. Plot is JUST interesting enough to keep me going but would love it if I could hear it with a narrator that understands the book and can adjust his delivery to the content.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Graham Henderson
- 2023-07-17
The reader is awful.
This is an extremely well written book. I have no idea why Dion Graham felt that he had to read it as if he was speaking to an audience of kindergarten students. The moment you hear it you’ll know what I mean. I had to grit my teeth to get through this. I finally gave up, and read the last half of the book. So disappointing. He absolutely ruined the experience.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 2024-04-06
Adventure & Mayhem
I ate this one up! If you haven’t already, make sure you read this book
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Dan W
- 2024-05-23
Amazing story, brilliantly told, wonderfully read
This was absolutely gripping! The story is told so vividly and the performance is excellent - very sympathetic.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Tim
- 2024-07-30
A chore to get through
Overall a slog to get through. Endless recount of sailors either drowning or starving none of which you really care about enough. I understand the intent of this book being a straightforward account from sailors logs from actual events but my god not a single thing happened in an interesting or memorable way. Narrator was okay.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Jim Duggan
- 2023-06-16
Many Dimensions to this Story
I had not been even remotely aware of this story prior to hearing this audio book. It is entirely engrossing and there are so many different facets to it. It is entirely about this time in history with a case study in leadership, will to survive and the desire of an empire to control the narrative. The narrator overall was very good, although a little overly dramatic at times.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- David Ray
- 2023-07-14
Narration a little funky
Great story, but the narrator is a little over the top. This one may be best read.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 2024-01-03
Expected more....
Apparently this is Martin Scorcese's next project with DiCaprio. Hopefully it will be more engaging than the audio version.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Dear happy
- 2023-08-21
Superlative book
Absolutely riveting, hard to put down story of resilience, courage and luck! Read in an engaging and adventurous tone- perfect
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Mona_Lisa
- 2023-09-29
Well researched but ‘lost at sea’
Well researched but the story was ‘lost at sea’ to the rambunctious narration that sounded like an American sportscaster. Very inappropriate voice casting and tone, taking away from the historical context. The writing itself, although a truly fascinating and an epic story of man’s survival and death against the elements, was discombobulating and often felt off course. This book needed it’s own life raft to navigate a better outcome.
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