Shipwreck, Mutiny, and Murder

Moral compromises and survival.

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New York Times bestselling author David Grann joins Sarah Isgur to talk about his latest book, The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny, and Murder. Grann recounts the true story of a sailors and false heroes who washed up on the shores of South America. The tale takes a turn when three unlikely survivors come forward with accusations of betrayal. Join the two as they uncover the truth of what happened on one 18th century ship.

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Comments (4)
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  1. Rebecca

    I really enjoyed this conversation. Sarah, you’re a great interviewer. Thanks for introducing me to David Grann — I enjoyed The Wager and am about one third of the way through Killers of the Flower Moon now.

    My husband got me into the Patrick O’Brian novels (Aubrey & Maturin series), which I highly recommend. Those books are set during the Napoleonic wars, and it’s astonishing to me how much naval (and medical) technology advanced in between the time of the Wager and those wars — they discovered the cure for scurvy and how to fix their longitude with some accuracy! O’Brian referenced Admiral Byron in various books as well.

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    J. Eric

    Informative and fun! Does not get any better. Thanks

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  3. Brandon Hartley

    Incredible! Such an amazing story - kudos, Mr. Grann. Reading about typhus, scurvy, drowning, cannibalism, and being in the “jail” of a ship, all the while it is rotting out from under you by every beetle and tree eating insect known to man, I could not help but think about what David said in AO about visiting Ukraine. There is quite the disconnect between these horrors our species has endured and the modern irrelevancies being thrown in our faces. I think part of the appeal of Cheap’s story is just how small it can make us feel, in the same way that staring up at a really great night sky can make us tiny and awed. BTW, if you haven’t read A History of the World in Six Glasses, there’s an amazing parallel in the chapter on hard liquors - brandy versus grog (with lime) in the Napoleonic wars. Thanks for keeping up the book club, Sarah!!

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    Pastorfbt

    One summer I devoured the Patrick O'Brian novels (as in, Master & Commander and all that) and was overwhelmed by the details of life on a sailing ship and the astounding complexity of the vessel itself. This true story was equally engrossing.

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