Escapees July-August 2023

from the bookshelf

Books for RVers By MARCELLA GAUTHIER #12371

The Wager: A tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny andMurder DAVID GRANN • DOUBLEDAY 2023 • ISBN: 978-0-385-53426-0 HARDCOVER: $30.00 • PAPERBACK: $32.00 • KINDLE: $14.99 David Grann has done it again. Grann, famous for his meticulous research by digging through dusty ship’s logs and historical court trial records, has created anoth er spellbinding page-turner. During the mid-18th century, Britain and Spain rivaled for control of the trade routes on the ocean. In August 1740, the ship, The Wager, left

waves, is fi lled with extreme danger, and needs to be explored during the southern summer with ample daylight and less freezing temperatures. Then, there was the somewhat uncharted Paci fi c Ocean. First, Cape Horn had to be navigated. But, a shipwreck after the Cape Horn passage, began the most destructive part of the voyage. Sick, diseased, hungry and fearful for their mere survival in a desolate area controlled by the Spanish, the crew began to mutiny. Factions were

created, and the crew members began plotting their escape. One patched-together vessel washed up with 30 barely-alive men on the shores of Brazil, where they were greeted as heroes. But in six months, another less-than-seaworthy

craft landed on the coast of Chile, with three castaways telling an entirely different story and claiming the fi rst group consisted of mutineers rather than heroes. Then, following the strict rules of the British Navy, a court martial was held. Whichever group was found criminally liable would be hung for their crime. So, although the horri fi c story of their shipwreck, mutiny, betrayal and murderous behavior while cast away on the island of Patagonia. Equally interesting was the trial in Britain where life-and-death consequences were at stake. The rules of the British Navy were harsh, and careful record-keeping was essential for all senior members of the crew. Failure to keep the ship’s logs current and accurate was punishable. This book is illustrated with many recent photos of the area around Patagonia, the seas of Cape Horn, Wager Island and many 18th and 19th-century paintings of ships and crew members. This is a riveting reading for anyone interested in the history of the time during the war between Britain and Spain, maritime imperialism and the life on board a ship with its dangers and hardships. This is a story of the nature of man on his best behavior and his worst, exacerbated by fear, hunger and illness.

Portsmouth, England, bound for the Pacif ic Ocean, on a secret mission to attempt to encounter a Spanish treasure- fi lled ship. The book begins with an introduction to the crew members, from professional sailors desiring advancement in the Brit ish navy, crew members escaping from a debt-ridden life, prison time or lack of opportunities in England to shanghaied sailors found on incoming ships or simply wandering on the docks. A s the crew’s personal stories are told, we begin to understand the atmosphere and realities of seafaring at the time. The descriptions of thedif fi culties in building and out fi tting a ship give a realistic picture. But most daunting is the journey ahead, facing the highly violent, dangerous passage around Cape Horn at the bottom of South America, where the Paci fi c meets the Atlantic. This area, with fi erce gale-force winds, icebergs and one-hundred-foot

32

ESCAPEES Magazine July/August 2023