The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny, and Murder

David Grann, the best-selling author of Killers of the Flower Moon, writes history that feels like fiction. His latest work The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny, and Murder reads like a rip-roaring adventure tale of the kind you loved as a kid. In 1741 a squadron of British ships, one of which is named The Wager, sets out to track down and capture a Spanish galleon loaded with gold and silver. As Grann's title indicates, many disasters, hardships, and near-miraculous feats ensue. We'll read and discuss this book in three weekly class sessions. Along the way we'll learn much about storytelling techniques, the routine dangers of a career at sea, leadership, class structure, tribalism, the forces that drove the British Empire, and human nature.