Cathy M

The Wager was fairly well-written and saved me from reading the several contemporaneous books written by the participants. I feared they would be wordy in the extreme just judging by their paragraph-length titles. Mr. Grann seems to have condensed their accounts into one book in which he tries to be fair to all sides. Briefly, an ill conceived plan to pirate gold from Spanish ships leaving Chile gets half-hearted government support; hastily refurbished ships; impressed and untrained crew carrying lice. Many die of typhus leaving the Wager ill prepared for the hardship of rounding cape horn. The newly appointed and vainglorious captain pushes on grounding the ship and marooning the surviving crew on an inhospitable island that is little more than a rock. Many die but a surprising number make their way back to England where the recriminations start. The book was an interesting and I assume accurate recounting of a pointless naval excursion that few of the original crew survived. Without a unifying theme or point of view I can only say, oh well.