David Grant's new book, The Wager, is a tale of shipwreck, mutiny and murder. It tells the story of a squadron of five British warships carrying 2,000 men that set off in 1740 to seize a Spanish gallion said to be loaded down with untold treasure. When you're looking for a story idea, or especially a book idea, you need to find other dimensions, deeper dimensions, if you're going to spend so much time on it.
David Grann is a staff writer at The New Yorker and the acclaimed author of "The Lost City of Z" and "Killers of the Flower Moon." In his new book, the #1 New York Times bestseller "The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny, and Murder," he tells the story of an 18th-century British warship that crashed on a godforsaken island off the coast of Patagonia. Stranded and starving, the men descended into murderous anarchy. Years later, when a handful of the survivors returned to England, their heroes' welcome was quickly swamped by questions about what really happened on the island.
Host: Caleb Bissinger
Guest: David Grann