Renowned for international bestsellers like “Killers of the Flower Moon” and “The Lost City of Z,” the author presents an enthralling narrative of shipwreck, mutiny, and murder that climaxes with a shocking revelation.
On January 28, 1742, a makeshift vessel, cobbled together from wood and cloth, drifted onto the Brazilian coast. Within its battered confines were thirty gaunt survivors with an extraordinary tale. These men were remnants of His Majesty’s ship, the Wager, a British vessel embarking on a clandestine mission during the 1740 imperial war with Spain. Pursuing a Spanish treasure-laden galleon, the Wager met its demise on a desolate Patagonian island. Marooned for months and facing starvation, the crew constructed a fragile craft, embarking on a perilous journey across stormy seas for over a hundred days, covering 2,500 miles. Their arrival was hailed with heroism.
However, six months later, an even more dilapidated craft landed on the Chilean coast. This vessel carried only three survivors with a vastly different narrative. Contrary to the initial perception of heroism, the thirty sailors who reached Brazil were labeled mutineers. In response, the first group countered with allegations of a tyrannical and murderous captain and his accomplices. Stranded on the island, the crew descended into anarchy, with factions battling for control over the desolate wilderness. Amid accusations of treachery and murder, the Admiralty convened a court martial to ascertain the truth. The stakes were life-and-death, as a guilty verdict meant facing the hangman’s noose.