The Wager
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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
What listeners say about The Wager
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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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
- Michael Hole
- 20-07-2024
Incredible story of survival and hardship. Excellent reader too.
I loved it all. We have such true, incredible stories from history, many of which are no longer remembered. This is one of those stories. If it weren’t true, you’d think it was a just a tall tale.
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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
- Mykhaylo Chumak
- 04-06-2023
Oustanding
I enjoyed the story and the narration thoroughly. Clearly written, captivating and well-narrated. Highly recommended if you have an interest in maritime and colonial history.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 04-07-2023
Great story terrible narration
Wow if you want to hear an American mess up English this is the place
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Judith
- 06-04-2024
Performance irritating; story great
The story is fascinating. Unfortunately, the narration lets it down. Words are mispronounced (eg. ‘pennant’, ‘Juan’), and the delivery style is exaggerated, as if trying to interest a 5 year old. The issues with the narration detract and distract.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Kincade
- 18-01-2024
Amazing story
A lot of people didn’t like the narrator but they were ok. The story is incredible I devoured it like a shipwrecked seaman
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- DJ Shearer
- 22-09-2023
Brilliant read
A incredible story well told. The narrator was talented and brought life to the story, though British English artist would have provided the realism. Throughly recommend.
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1 person found this helpful
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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
- Andrew Singleton
- 29-09-2023
Ripping, incredible yarn
A wonderful, compelling story, told with brio. Deeply researched but fast paced. Narration is excellent. Tone just right for the style of book
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Andrea
- 12-12-2023
Great adventure
Engaging telling on the history of a remote and beautiful part of the world. What hasn’t been written tells a lot.
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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
- Anonymous User
- 13-06-2023
Ripping Tale of True Adventure
This is an adventure story matching Shackleton’s voyage or the wreck of the Batavia, maybe one of the most incredible and forgotten in all history. Thoroughly researched and well narrated I recommend it very highly.
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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
- Amazon Customer
- 23-09-2024
Utterly engrossing tale of human nature
David Grann has drawn together from disparate historical records an utterly engrossing tale of human nature facing challenges against both itself and the forces of nature. The story is underwritten by issues of European colonialism, British classism, and the question of how human nature reacts under pressure. Grann does an excellent job of holding the competing narratives in tension, while simultaneously addressing the larger issues these raise.
The narration by Dion Graham was breathless and engaging which underlined the momentous struggles the protagonists were suffering. I had a few minor quibbles with pronunciation. Since this story relates to the British military hierarchy, 'lieutenant' should have been pronounced in the British way ('leftenant') and not the American way ('lootenant'). And how did the narrator manage to scramble the name 'Don Juan' (pronounced by him 'Joo-an') yet be able to pronounce correctly the 'Juan Fernandez islands'?
Overall an excellent listen that utterly absorbed me. It was disappointing to hear in the Acknowledgments however that the printed book contained images and I assume maps that were not uploaded as a PDF to the audiobook. I would very much have appreciated being able to refer to maps during the narration.
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