The Wager
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Narrated by:
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Dion Graham
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By:
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David Grann
About this listen
*LONGLISTED FOR THE 2023 BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION*
'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
'I cannot think of anyone who would not love this book . . . It is an extraordinary true story, beautifully written' Richard Osman
‘A cracking yarn… Grann’s taste for desperate predicaments finds its fullest expression here’ Observer
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.
©2023 David Grann (P)2023 Penguin Random House Audio US
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- Length: 31 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Do you know how many wives Zeus had? Or how the famous Trojan War was caused by one beautiful lady? Or how Thor got his hammer? Give your imagination a real treat. This Mega Mythology Collection of eight audiobooks is for you....
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An interesting set of introductions.
- By Kevin Potter on 05-30-19
By: Scott Lewis
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Helter Skelter
- The True Story of the Manson Murders
- By: Vincent Bugliosi, Curt Gentry
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 26 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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Prosecuting attorney in the Manson trial Vincent Bugliosi held a unique insider's position in one of the most baffling and horrifying cases of the 20th century: the cold-blooded Tate-LaBianca murders carried out by Charles Manson and four of his followers. What motivated Manson in his seemingly mindless selection of victims, and what was his hold over the young women who obeyed his orders? Now available for the first time in unabridged audio, the gripping story of this famous and haunting crime is brought to life by acclaimed narrator Scott Brick.
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Everything I remembered about the case was wrong..
- By karen on 06-22-12
By: Vincent Bugliosi, and others
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Fingerprints of the Gods
- The Quest Continues
- By: Graham Hancock
- Narrated by: Graham Hancock
- Length: 18 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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Fingerprints of the Gods is the revolutionary rewrite of history that has persuaded millions of listeners throughout the world to change their preconceptions about the history behind modern society. An intellectual detective story, this unique history audiobook directs probing questions at orthodox history, presenting disturbing new evidence that historians have tried - but failed - to explain.
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Classic in Historical Mysteries
- By Kelly on 09-05-19
By: Graham Hancock
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The Secret History of Christmas
- By: Bill Bryson
- Narrated by: Bill Bryson
- Length: 3 hrs and 3 mins
- Original Recording
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Christmas is the single biggest annual event on the planet, a time for merry-making, over-indulgence, peace, goodwill, and the occasional family row. It’s as comfortable and familiar as a pair of old shoes and yet still glittery and exciting. But what do you really know about it? It’s stuffed full of traditions and rituals that most of us have been observing all our lives without having the slightest idea of where they come from.
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Fascinating and Entertaining
- By Laura Carrington on 11-23-22
By: Bill Bryson
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World War 2 in the Pacific Collection: Across Wake Island, Bataan, Guadalcanal, Corregidor, and Iwo Jima
- Helmet for My Pillow: From Parris Island to the Pacific, The Saga of Pappy Gunn, On Valor's Side, The Coastwatchers, They Call it Pacific, Joe Foss Flying Marine, South from Corregidor, The Story of Wake Island, & Mission Beyond Darkness
- By: Robert Lackie, General George C. Kenney, T. Grady Gallant, and others
- Narrated by: Museum Audiobooks Cast
- Length: 66 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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This is a nine-book bundle on the Pacific War, the theatre of World War II that was fought in Asia, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean and Oceania. The Pacific War saw the Allies pitted against Japan, aided by Thailand and its Axis allies, Germany and Italy. Fighting included some of the largest naval battles in history, and the war culminated in the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
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Good collection, great bargain well worth a credit
- By R. Denton on 08-13-21
By: Robert Lackie, and others
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Black Elk Speaks
- Being the Life Story of a Holy Man of the Oglala Sioux, The Premier Edition
- By: John G. Neihardt
- Narrated by: Robin Neihardt
- Length: 6 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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Widely hailed as a spiritual classic, this inspirational and unfailingly powerful story reveals the life and visions of the Lakota healer Nicholas Black Elk (1863–1950) and the tragic history of his Sioux people during the epic closing decades of the Old West. In 1930, the aging Black Elk met a kindred spirit, the famed poet, writer, and critic John G. Neihardt (1881–1973) on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota.
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Tale of tears
- By William Sanders on 01-25-15
By: John G. Neihardt
What listeners say about The Wager
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Anonymous User
- 05-28-23
Piercing the veil of shipwreck and mutiny
Impression
This book captured what it was like to be out at sea in the seventeen hundreds, brutal and unforgiving. I almost can't beleive that a bunch of humans boarded a small wooden craft by today's standards and raved the open ocean. I got lord of the flies vibes.
Summary
This is a well researched retelling of the events that happend to the HMS Wager and her crew. About a group of British naval vessels sailing to Cape Horn in pursuit of the Spanish enemy, to hopefully, capture a Spanish galleon filled with treasure. During a storm the Wager hits rocks and the crew is forced to abandon ship. What follows is starvation fueled feuds, desperation and a suicide plan to make it back to England.
Quotes
- “Persons who have not experienced the hardships we have met with,” Bulkeley wrote, “will wonder how people can be so inhuman to see their fellow creatures starving before their faces, and afford ’em no relief. But hunger is void of all compassion.”
- "Indeed these imperial structures require it: thousands and thousands of ordinary people, innocent or not, serving - and even sacrificing themselves for - a system many of them rarely question."
- "We emerge as the heroes of our stories, allowing us to live with what we have done—or haven’t done."
- "The blind horn's hate"
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- Julia Dahlgren
- 12-02-23
Well researched and balanced, captivating throughout
Grann has done an amazing job with this one, carefully researching and presenting the conflicting stories. It's hard to believe the human mind and body can survive the hardships these seamen endured both on ship and on land - I'm endlessly grateful for my comfortable life after listening! I also really appreciate Grann pointing out the colonial misguidedness of the times: how the British prejudice and racism lead them to scare off their best hope of survival (the natives of the land they were shipwrecked on), their deluded belief they, as Brits, were superior and more civilised than anyone else (while succumbing to murder, cannibalism, and mutiny), and the fate of Duck, the sole Black survivor. Excellent work through and through, also by the narrator bringing these pages to life!
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- Cliff
- 02-06-24
Amazing story
Written almost as an adventure yarn this book covers so many different angles from seafaring, survival, mutiny, British class & political system, international skirmishes, the rise of journalusm, colonialism & fake news.
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