“Man plans, God laughs.”
In 1742, the carcass of a vessel washed up on the Brazilian shoreline. On board were thirty men, all barely alive, who had the most scarcely believable tale to tell. That is the premise of New York Times bestselling author David Grann’s The Wager, the breathtaking story of shipwreck, murder and mutiny that followed this British vessel on the high seas. As well as being one of the most captivating shipwreck books, The Wager is a masterfully-told exploration of human behaviour when pushed to the absolute limit.
Join us here at What We Reading for the best books like The Wager that combine shipwrecks, as well as the incredible feats of bravery from people in response.
Island Of The Lost: Shipwrecked At The Edge Of The World – Joan Druett
Joan Druett’s Island of the Lost is the incredible true story of two shipwrecks at opposite ends of the same deserted island. In 1864, Captain Thomas Musgrave’s schooner, the Grafton, wrecked on Auckland Island. Battered by freezing cold winds and year-long rainfall, it is one of the most inhospitable spots on Earth.
Remarkably, his shipwreck coincided with another one just twenty miles away on the same island. Utilising survivors’ journals and historical records, Maritime Historian Joan Druett tells the captivating story of Musgrave’s crew and their herculean effort to survive and escape the island. It is one of the best books like The Wager that demonstrates resilience and leadership, but also how finely drawn the line between order and chaos truly can be.
Mutiny On The Bounty: A Saga Of Sex, Sedition, Mayhem And Mutiny, And Survival Against Extraordinary Odds – Peter FitzSimons
For those who loved true historical accounts of mutiny being brought to life in The Wager, Peter FitzSimons offers his 2018 book, Mutiny on the Bounty. Detailing the infamous mutiny onboard the HMS Bounty in the South Pacific in 1789, FitzSimons escorts readers from the paradise surroundings of Tahiti to the first discovery of the Pitcairn Islands.
Along the way, readers encounter the cast of colourful characters and their array of incredible feats on both sides of the mutiny. The end result is a sprawling story of intrigue, adventure and betrayal, the ramifications of which continue to influence Pitcairn culture to this day.
Dead Wake: The Last Crossing Of The Lusitania – Erik Larson
This 2015 Goodreads Award winner takes readers back to May 1915 when the luxury ocean liner Lusitania set sail from New York. Destined for Liverpool, most know the ship’s ultimate sinking, resulting in the deaths of 1,197 innocents. However, Larson successfully brings a new dimension to the tale in Dead Wake, painting a wider portrait of early 20th-century America and switching perspectives between the Lusitania and its U-20 hunter to tie together an enthralling read that explains how the US dramatically found its place on the road to war.
Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage – Alfred Lansing
Ernest Shackleton is one of the world’s most famous explorers, and his Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition marked the final chapter in the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. Aiming to make the first land crossing of the southernmost continent in 1914, his ship, Endurance, found itself trapped in pack ice.
Crushed and sent to the depths of the ocean, Shackleton and his crew were forced into a desperate evacuation, launching lifeboats to Elephant Island and then to South Georgia Island (720 nautical miles (1,330 km; 830 mi). Endurance by Alfred Lansing takes readers to the heart of Shackleton’s incredible journey, offering a breathtaking dive into the resilience, courage and leadership shown by him and his crew in the most dire of circumstances.
Batavia’s Graveyard: The True Story Of The Mad Heretic Who Led History’s Bloodiest Mutiny – Mike Dash
In 1628, The Dutch East India Company, the world’s first public company, loaded the Batavia, the flagship of its fleet, with a king’s ransom in gems, gold and silver on its maiden voyage to Java. It was a symbol of the wealthiest monopoly in the world, and a man named Jeronimus Corneliszoon was tasked with guarding the treasure.
Unfortunately, Jeronimus, a bankrupt man with heretical ideals, had already hatched a mutinous plan to steal this treasure for himself. In Batavia’s Graveyard, Mike Dash masterfully brings to life the incredible story of Jeronimus and his mutiny, how the Batavia found itself shipwrecked on a small chain of islands near Australia, and what the eventual fate of these conspirators and crewmen came to be.
Island Of The Blue Foxes: Disaster And Triumph On The World’s Greatest Scientific Expedition – Stephen R. Bown
The Great Northern Expedition, also known as the Second Kamchatka Expedition, is one of the most defining scientific achievements in history, but it is only through a book like Stephen R. Brown’s Island of the Blue Foxes that readers truly get a grasp of just how much went into this ten-year-long journey.
One of the best books like The Wager for capturing the feeling of survival that comes with a life on the sea, Brown covers the lives of Danish captain Vitus Bering and his array of scientists, artists, mariners, soldiers and labourers that made up his 3,000-strong team. The end result was the discovery of Alaska, the mapping of the Siberian coastline and a place in history, but the cost was undoubtedly one of the most gruelling survival experiences imaginable.
Check Out The Best Books Like Hatchet By Gary Paulsen
The Perfect Storm: A True Story Of Men Against The Sea – Sebastian Junger
For a book like The Wager that captures the chaos and might nature is capable of throwing up, Sebastian Junger’s The Perfect Storm is a must-read. In it, Junger takes readers back to 1991 and the beginnings of a maelstrom that may only come around once in a century. Creating waves ten stories high and conjuring winds of 120 miles an hour, the sea was unlike anything most people could ever imagine.
Yet, for the six men onboard Andrea Gail, a small commercial fishing boat, that was exactly what they were faced with as they sailed into its hellish centre. Junger pulls readers into this nightmarish scenario through his exceptional storytelling in a read that is as breathtaking as it is suspenseful.
Part-time reader, part-time rambler, and full-time Horror enthusiast, James has been writing for What We Reading since 2022. His earliest reading memories involved Historical Fiction, Fantasy and Horror tales, which he has continued to take with him to this day. James’ favourite books include The Last (Hanna Jameson), The Troop (Nick Cutter) and Chasing The Boogeyman (Richard Chizmar).
