England and Spain have never been best friends, to put it nicely. Occasionally they've broken out into actual war. This book centers around a time of such conflict, when in the 1740s England decided to commission a fleet led by a Commander Anson to go after Spanish galleons and loot them for their gold.

It was a disaster. By the time they actually set sail, they were headed for the worst weather of the year around the Cape Horn. There were already problems before they got there, including scurvy, but by the time they got to the bottom of South America, the fleet had broken up and one of the ships, The Wager, ran aground. Mayhem and mutiny ensued, along with starvation and murder.

I don't know why I love these nautical disaster books so much. I'm a total landlubber. I can't even swim. I didn't even see the ocean until I was an adult. But for whatever reason, I love reading these books. This one definitely did not disappoint. It was full of drama and emotion, and the best part was that it was all true and taken from the accounts written by the actual survivors. If you like tales of shipwreck or disaster, add this one to your list. I raced through it and I'm so glad I did.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a free copy of this book. This did not affect my review.

David Grann's research is apparent in this book as he takes the reader along for a perilous ride around the cape!

Shocking

The Wager, David Grann, author
The year is 1740. Once a year, the Spaniards sailed to the Philippines with silver from their colonies in South America, to buy goods, and then they transported them back to Spain. The English wanted that treasure and hoped to intercept the Spanish Armada to obtain it. They pressed innocent men into service, kidnapping them to serve on the ships and go to war. However, the ships were fragile; they were made of wood, and they were mastered by the weather. What started as a force of seven vulnerable ships shrunk, as each, one by one, succumbed to nature’s violence and were shipwrecked. Then illness caused by starvation and lack of appropriate nutrients began to take a toll. A fragile ship became more and more unsafe. Accidents occurred. Surgery was often performed without anesthesia. The men suffered. They would weather one storm and it would be followed by another. They became ill with Scurvy, for which they knew no remedy. The lack of hygiene caused lice to multiply. As the ships became a haven for the disease and infestation, the men succumbed, one by one. Soon, they were shipwrecked and became castaways for months. Using whatever they could salvage, they built boats and attempted to reach land and save themselves. Although they started out with about 2000 men, by the time, years later, that any surviving ships limped in to a port, barely 10%, in total, had survived to tell the tale. Nature’s violence and the elements, vitamin deficiencies, starvation, rebellion and jealousy sowed seeds of despair. When they survivors reached the shore, they were enemies and were arrested. They each spun a tale about their plight, but the take each spun was not always completely accurate or the same, since each wanted to survive and not be considered guilty of a crime. They had already suffered so much.
This book tells the story of one ship, in particular, The Wager, but it encompasses the tale of the other six as well. The commanding officers were of the elite, the captains were loyal to their ships, the mates were not always loyal to their captain. As hardship mounted up, some sailors mutinied, but others stayed loyal. This is a true story of courage and fortitude, but it is also a story of man’s inhumanity to man. The castaways suffered from starvation, the weather, lack of shelter, and fear of never being found. Soon, desperation made many men do the things that would ordinarily be unthinkable, but there were also troublemakers who stirred up the disgruntled men and spurred them to rebel.
After years, eventually, several groups of castaways, some from different vessels, wound up on the shores of South America where they found themselves captured. Once again, they suffered, but were eventually released. They made their way back to England, some 5 or so years later, and were thought dead by many friends and family. They were happy to be home, but after a book was published by the gunner on The Wager, John Bulkeley, who had kept copious journals and was one of the mutineers, Captain Cheap realized his behavior was called into question by the author. To clear his name, the captain, David Cheap, filed court martial charges against the mutineers. They, in turn, charged him with the murder of their fellow sailor. They presented their cases at the trial.
The book tells a little-known tale. Although it starts off a bit slow with a great deal of description and background, by the middle of the book, the pace picks up and is truly an exciting story of courage in the face of the most devastating circumstances. It is also the story of the depravity to which men may sink when desperate. The one thing it shows is that no one wins in war.