Who lives, who dies, who tells your story?
A review of the intriguing tale of The Wager by David Grann
“Empires preserve their power with the stories that they tell, but just as critical are the stories they don’t—the dark silences they impose, the pages they tear out.”
Every year the goodreads choice awards come around, and every year I am always blown away about the amount of books I’ve never seen or heard about. It seems to me that it is rare that I’ve actually read a book on the list of nominees, and for now I can only recall the year I binged Sarah J. Maas as the only year of actually being invested in the awards (do not judge me too harshly on this, I was very entertained for a while).
I do however enjoy looking through the list of nominees, because sometimes there are a few books here and there that peak my interest. This year the history nominees caught my eye, particularly one book; The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder by David Grann. Yes! The same David Grann who wrote Killers of the Flower Moon, now a motion picture directed by none other than Martin Scorsese.
Fun fact about me and why this genre is super interesting:
I am actually an historian. I have a masters degree in it, with a heavy focus on medieval Europe and I spent two years working at the Hanseatic Museum here in Bergen, thus getting lost in trading history. Bergen was one of the Hanseatic Leagues main offices in Europe, and the only one in Norway due to their trade (and control) of the Norwegian stockfish trade from the mid 1300s up until the offices closed in 1754.
I found a deep fascination for trading and maritime history while working there, and I did remember the story about the Wager. Not only had I heard about it in one of my history classes, but at one point I did have a very nice British visitor who told the story with so much enthusiasm that it stuck to me. Yay for history nerds! Discovering that there now was an actual book about the Wager, it was an easy choice to pick it up. If only to give me a little dip back into why I adore this field so much.
Into the storm
Before we enter the storm, let me break it down for you:
A British ship, The Wager, is lost at sea and it is presumed that the ship and its crew all perished by the Gulf of Penas (Gulf of Sorrows). However, in 1742, to the shock of an entire world, a small patched-together vessel is washed ashore in Brazil carrying 30, barely alive men, with an extraordinary tale to tell about their survival on a deserted island.
They had left Britain two years earlier on a mission to chase down a Spanish galleon filled with treasures of the new world. Instead, they wrecked on an island off the coast of Patagonia, and after nearly starving to death, the men built this flimsy vessel and sailed in hopes of surviving long enough to reach the main land.
Six months later, the tale takes a turn as an even more beaten up vessel reaches the coast of Chile carrying three castaways from The Wager. These men, tell a tale that is much uglier than the first account of the wreckage, the 30 men who survived are not heroes at all, they are mutineers.
Thus begins one of the more fascinating stories I have heard. Accusations and counter charges are filed, the newspaper are filled up with different variations of the tale, a book is published and it all reaches its peak, when the Admiralty convenes a court martial to determine who is lying. The stakes of are high - whomever is found to be lying, will be hanged.
Sometimes, I wonder if people really know how intriguing and insane history is. It is no wonder that many of my favorite fantasy authors have found inspiration in historical events as they are filled with hard choices, heroes, villains and occasionally salvation. Who knew that shipwreck could be so damn intriguing?
David Grann has done so much research for this book and it shows. It is a seamless narration of the era, the way of life, the state of the British navy at the time and how the Wager ended up as a shipwreck outside of the coast of Patagonia. I was not really sure how he would pull off the characters. How would he be able to portray them in an intriguing and convincing manner without making this too much of a fictional tale?
I should never have doubted him. Grann made sure through his extensive research to present us characters, people, who you can see for who they are, or at least as close as one can through the sources, descriptions and the authors ability to tell their story. David Cheap, John Byron and John Bulkeley to name the three we see the most of throughout this book are presented in such a human way, with all that it comes with.
After finishing the book I am left with a very clear image or idea of who these men were, their goals and dreams and how they each survived the shipwreck in different ways. It also goes to show how different and complex human nature is, how desperate one needs order or at least meaning with your life - even when stranded on an a deserted island.
It is one thing to read about the horrors and struggles of surviving a shipwreck and then months on a deserted island, another to look back at it, when the men are saved. How the narrative of what exactly happened before the shipwreck and on the island becomes so crucial to who comes out of it the best.
“We all impose some coherence—some meaning—on the chaotic events of our existence. We rummage through the raw images of our memories, selecting, burnishing, erasing. We emerge as the heroes of our stories, allowing us to live with what we have done—or haven’t done.”
As an historian, you know that the narrative presented may not always be the most objective one, as whomever wrote it will never completely be without bias, one way or another. It goes both to the book itself, but also the narratives that are presented throughout the book. The Wagers story is clearly presented and tailored by two main characters, each with their own agenda, if either failed to be believed, it would’ve had serious consequences. One risked being hanged, the other, losing his career and everything he worked for.
The stakes were high for both sides.
This is the main thing that had me so intrigued with this book. Grann made a great job in demonstrating these different narratives, how they were presented, how they were changed and twisted, not only through the two main characters themselves, but also through the media at the time and then later on by the British Navy itself. I always come back to the same question when reading history, who tells your story?
As another example of who the writers of history are, is the story about John Duck, the free Black seaman on the Wager - who not only survived it all, the shipwreck, the island, the dreadful sailing to Brazil, and then to be sold into slavery. There are no records of what happened to him, and that silence, is just heartbreaking.
Who controls the narrative? How is it used? How will it shape future beliefs and narratives? All these questions are still unanswered, but I loved how The Wager is a book that connects these topics so well. It is a well written narrative that shifts between facts, historical context and the authors impeccable storytelling.
The complex nature of humans
Personally I loved the style, the fun facts you learn about different sayings (did you for instance, know that the phrase: to turn a blind eye became popular because a vice-admiral placed his telescope against his blind eye to ignore his superiors signal flag to retreat? How fun is that!), the deep dive into the history of the navy and everything else that came with it. I know one thing: my image of traveling the world back then, has gotten a brutal reality check.
There are moments where Grann tries to place this event in a bigger context, the context of imperialism. I found it to add an important part of understanding these men as well. One particular part is with how racist they were, even when being saved by a local Chono, they are still viewing them as lesser humans. And I could not help myself thinking: you are literally being saved by the indigenous people of my land, and you are still thinking you are better than them? Like how that make any sense?
That moment was truly fascinating to me, but it also demonstrates the worldview at the time. Which it both upsetting and interesting, because it does show this attitude of the western world, somehow convinced of their right to another land and its people that still lingers to this day. A quote that stuck by me was with Orellanas story: “by what right are we ruled?”
Indeed, by what right?
The only thing pulling this book a bit down was how short the last part was. Maybe it was because of the blurb, but I did expect more on the actual trial. That part was really short and I thought we would dive a bit more into it. There was much more I would’ve liked to know, maybe more about how this played in greater detail. However, that might be just me. The solution was surprising but not disappointing at all - just an unexpected ending, but fitting for how life turns out.
The Wager is a magnificent book about what humans do to survive under extreme situations, and then how one tries to come out it on top when you do survive. It is a story that show us how complex we are, how easily moral, beliefs, everything that makes you, you, can be literally tossed out at sea, when you need to fight to survive. And after all this, I am still left wondering, what happened to all the stories we did not hear anything about. There were after all 30 men on the first boat that landed in Brazil, and there were three who survived long enough to reach Chile. Not to mention the captains logs were missing too and how the story of the Wager quietly drifted off and out memory.
Historical nonfiction can be a tricky genre to do well. One thing is to cater to readers like me, that do have a fond spot for it, that adore history and even know a lot themselves. It is another to intrigue and hang on to the readers that are maybe not that into it. I do believe that this is a fascinating book, no matter what genre you prefer and I would recommend it, it is well worth your time.
This book will stay with me for a long long time and I might just go an pick up another book by David Grann, while I promise myself to never ever be on a ship.
“Dead men tell no tales”
Loving the historian's enthusiasm at the heart of this review and the way you use the book to explore so much of the context of the time it is set in. The idea of exploring historical events through the eyes of the characters at the heart of it feels complex but is the only way to draw the reader into the story. Your review makes me want to pick up the book.
I enjoyed your review which has made me want to read the book - I do enjoy historical non-fiction. I actually know of The Wager from a completely different angle. I read 'The Fall of the House of Byron' earlier this year and this story is recounted in it. John Byron or 'Foul-Weather Jack' as he was known was the grandfather of Lord Byron, the poet. The Byrons were some family!