by David Grann
Read by Dion Graham
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Content: There are some gruesome details about the status of the survivors once the ship wrecked, as well as mentions of cannibalism. It’s in the History section of the bookstore.

In 1742, a small boat washed up on the shore of Brazil, holding 30 emaciated men. They said they were what was left of the crew of His Majesty’s ship, The Wager, and that they had been shipwrecked off the coast of Patagonia for months. After nearly starving to death, they escaped through the Straits of Magellan and to Brazil. When they finally made it back to England, they were regarded as heroes. Then, a few years later, three more men show up after having arrived in Chile. They told a story of mutiny and rebellion, of bad decisions and murder.

I’ve had this one on my TBR (or to-listen, actually) pile for a couple of years, ever since it came out. I knew it was going to be good; co-workers who don’t usually read history read this one and thoroughly enjoyed it. But I was still surprised just how much I liked it. Part of that was Graham’s narration – he’s an excellent narrator and he made the already compelling narrative that Graham wrote even more compelling. We listened to this one driving to St. Louis and back, and we hung on every word. So much so that we couldn’t listen to it while navigating around the town – there was no talking over the book. I knew Grann was a good historian, I just didn’t know how compelling he was. It was a fascinating story told really well and read by an amazing narrator. A perfect storm of excellence.