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From the bestselling author of The Lost City of Z, and the Number One international bestseller The Wager, comes a true-life murder story which became one of the FBI’s first major homicide investigations.
In the 1920s, the richest people per capita in the world were members of the Osage Indian nation in Oklahoma. After oil was discovered beneath their land, they rode in chauffeured automobiles, built mansions and sent their children to study in Europe.
Then, one by one, the Osage began to be killed off. As the death toll climbed, the FBI took up the case. But the bureau badly bungled the investigation. In desperation, its young director, J. Edgar Hoover, turned to a former Texas Ranger named Tom White to unravel the mystery. Together with the Osage he and his undercover team began to expose one of the most chilling conspiracies in American history.
From the author of Killers of the Flower Moon, a page-turning story of shipwreck, survival, and savagery, culminating in a court martial that reveals a shocking truth. The powerful narrative reveals the deeper meaning of the events on The Wager, showing that it was not only the captain and crew who ended up on trial, but the very idea of empire.
On January 28, 1742, a ramshackle vessel of patched-together wood and cloth washed up on the coast of Brazil. Inside were thirty emaciated men, barely alive, and they had an extraordinary tale to tell. They were survivors of His Majesty’s Ship the Wager, a British vessel that had left England in 1740 on a secret mission during an imperial war with Spain. While the Wager had been chasing a Spanish treasure-filled galleon known as “the prize of all the oceans,” it had wrecked on a desolate island off the coast of Patagonia. The men, after being marooned for months and facing starvation, built the flimsy craft and sailed for more than a hundred days, traversing nearly 3,000 miles of storm-wracked seas. They were greeted as heroes.
But then ... six months later, another, even more decrepit craft landed on the coast of Chile. This boat contained just three castaways, and they told a very different story. The thirty sailors who landed in Brazil were not heroes – they were mutineers. The first group responded with countercharges of their own, of a tyrannical and murderous senior officer and his henchmen. It became clear that while stranded on the island the crew had fallen into anarchy, with warring factions fighting for dominion over the barren wilderness. As accusations of treachery and murder flew, the Admiralty convened a court martial to determine who was telling the truth. The stakes were life-and-death—for whomever the court found guilty could hang.
The Wager is a grand tale of human behavior at the extremes told by one of our greatest nonfiction writers. Grann’s recreation of the hidden world on a British warship rivals the work of Patrick O’Brian, his portrayal of the castaways’ desperate straits stands up to the classics of survival writing such as The Endurance, and his account of the court martial has the savvy of a Scott Turow thriller. As always with Grann’s work, the incredible twists of the narrative hold the reader spellbound.
The New York Times bestseller and the Edgar Award for
Best Fact Crime winner Killers of the Flower
Moon is now adapted for young adults. **KILLERS OF THE FLOWER
MOON IS SOON TO BE A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE DIRECTED BY
MARTIN SCORSESE STARRING LEONARDO DICAPRIO AND ROBERT DE NIRO**
This book is an essential resource for young adults to learn about
the Reign of Terror against the Osage people – one of history's
most ruthless and shocking crimes. In the 1920s, the richest people
per capita in the world were members of the Osage Nation in
Oklahoma, thanks to the oil that was discovered beneath their land.
Then, one by one, the Osage began to die under mysterious
circumstances, and anyone who tried to investigate met the same
end. As the death toll surpassed more than twenty-four Osage, the
newly created Bureau of Investigation, which became the FBI, took
up the case, one of the organization's first major homicide
investigations. An undercover team infiltrated the region,
struggling to adopt the latest modern techniques of detection.
Working with the Osage, they began to expose one of the most
chilling conspiracies in American history. In this adaptation of
the adult bestseller, David Grann revisits his gripping
investigation into the shocking crimes against the Osage people.
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The Wager (Hardcover)
David Grann
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'A tour de force' Wall Street Journal From the
international bestselling author of KILLERS OF THE FLOWER
MOON and THE LOST CITY OF Z, a mesmerising story of shipwreck,
mutiny and murder, culminating in a court martial that
reveals a shocking truth. On 28th January 1742, a
ramshackle vessel of patched-together wood and cloth washed up on
the coast of Brazil. Inside were thirty emaciated men, barely
alive, and they had an extraordinary tale to tell. They were
survivors of His Majesty’s ship the Wager, a British vessel that
had left England in 1740 on a secret mission during an imperial war
with Spain. While chasing a Spanish treasure-filled galleon,
the Wager was wrecked on a desolate island off the coast of
Patagonia. The crew, marooned for months and facing starvation,
built the flimsy craft and sailed for more than a hundred days,
traversing 2,500 miles of storm-wracked seas. They were greeted as
heroes. Then, six months later, another, even more
decrepit, craft landed on the coast of Chile. This boat contained
just three castaways and they had a very different story to
tell. The thirty sailors who landed in Brazil were not heroes
– they were mutineers. The first group responded with
counter-charges of their own, of a tyrannical and murderous captain
and his henchmen. While stranded on the island the crew had fallen
into anarchy, with warring factions fighting for dominion over the
barren wilderness. As accusations of treachery and murder flew, the
Admiralty convened a court martial to determine who was telling the
truth. The stakes were life-and-death—for whomever the court
found guilty could hang.
WINNER OF THE EDGAR AWARD FOR BEST FACT CRIME SHORTLISTED FOR THE
ANDREW CARNEGIE MEDAL FOR EXCELLENCE IN NON-FICTION SHORTLISTED FOR
THE CWA ALCS GOLD DAGGER FOR NON-FICTION **SOON TO BE A MAJOR
MOTION PICTURE DIRECTED BY MARTIN SCORSESE STARRING LEONARDO
DICAPRIO AND ROBERT DE NIRO** 'A riveting true story of greed,
serial murder and racial injustice' JON KRAKAUER 'A fiercely
entertaining mystery story and a wrenching exploration of evil'
KATE ATKINSON 'A fascinating account of a tragic and forgotten
chapter in the history of the American West' JOHN GRISHAM From the
bestselling author of The Lost City of Z, now a major film starring
Charlie Hunnam, Sienna Miller and Robert Pattison, comes a
true-life murder story which became one of the FBI's first major
homicide investigations. In the 1920s, the richest people per
capita in the world were members of the Osage Indian nation in
Oklahoma. After oil was discovered beneath their land, they rode in
chauffeured automobiles, built mansions and sent their children to
study in Europe. Then, one by one, the Osage began to be killed
off. As the death toll climbed, the FBI took up the case. But the
bureau badly bungled the investigation. In desperation, its young
director, J. Edgar Hoover, turned to a former Texas Ranger named
Tom White to unravel the mystery. Together with the Osage he and
his undercover team began to expose one of the most chilling
conspiracies in American history. 'David Grann has a razor-keen
instinct for suspense' LOUISE ERDRICH
**NOW A MAJOR FILM STARRING ROBERT PATTINSON, CHARLIE HUNNAM AND
SIENNA MILLER** 'A riveting, exciting and thoroughly compelling
tale of adventure'JOHN GRISHAM The story of Colonel Percy Harrison
Fawcett, the inspiration behind Conan Doyle's The Lost World
Fawcett was among the last of a legendary breed of British
explorers. For years he explored the Amazon and came to believe
that its jungle concealed a large, complex civilization, like El
Dorado. Obsessed with its discovery, he christened it the City of
Z. In 1925, Fawcett headed into the wilderness with his son Jack,
vowing to make history. They vanished without a trace. For the next
eighty years, hordes of explorers plunged into the jungle, trying
to find evidence of Fawcett's party or Z. Some died from disease
and starvation; others simply disappeared. In this spellbinding
true tale of lethal obsession, David Grann retraces the footsteps
of Fawcett and his followers as he unravels one of the greatest
mysteries of exploration. 'A wonderful story of a lost age of
heroic exploration' Sunday Times 'Marvellous ... An engrossing book
whose protagonist could out-think Indiana Jones' Daily Telegraph
'The best story in the world, told perfectly' Evening Standard 'A
fascinating and brilliant book' Malcolm Gladwell
'Beautifully told by David Grann, one of the best true-crime
writers around... Nuanced and gripping' Evening Standard Now a
major film starring Robert Redford, Sissy Spacek and Casey Affleck,
The Old Man and the Gun is joined by two other riveting true-crime
tales by the author of the bestselling Killers of the Flower Moon
The Old Man and the Gun is the incredible story of a bank robber
and prison escape artist who modelled himself after figures like
Pretty Boy Floyd and who, even in his seventies, refuses to retire.
True Crime follows the twisting investigation of a Polish detective
who suspects that a novelist planted clues in his fiction to an
actual murder. And The Chameleon recounts how a French imposter
assumes the identity of a missing boy from Texas and infiltrates
the boy's family, only to soon wonder whether he is the one being
conned. In this mesmerizing collection, David Grann shows why he
has been called a 'worthy heir to Truman Capote' and 'simply the
best narrative non-fiction writer working today', as he takes the
reader on a journey through some of the most intriguing and
gripping real-life tales from around the world. Praise for Killers
of the Flower Moon 'An extraordinary story with extraordinary pace
and atmosphere' Sunday Times 'A marvel of detective-like research
and narrative verve' Financial Times 'A riveting true story of
greed, serial murder and racial injustice' Jon Krakauer 'A fiercely
entertaining mystery story and a wrenching exploration of evil'
Kate Atkinson 'A fascinating account of a tragic and forgotten
chapter in the history of the American West' John Grisham And for
The Lost City of Z (shortlisted for the 2009 Samuel Johnson Prize)
'Absorbing... a wonderful story of a lost age of heroic
exploration' Sunday Times 'Marvellous... engrossing' Daily
Telegraph 'At once a biography, a detective story and wonderfully
vivid piece of travel writing... suspenseful... rollicking...
fascinating' New York Times
As Sherlock Holmes once conceded to Dr. Watson, 'If we could fly
out of that window hand in hand, hover over this great city, gently
remove the roofs and peep in at the queer things which are going
on, the strange coincidences, the planning, the cross-purposes, the
wonderful chain of events, working through generations and leading
to the most outreresults, it would make all fiction with its
conventionalities and foreseen conclusions most stale and
unprofitable.' And with such a spirit for investigation and
discovery does David Grann set out in The Devil and Sherlock Holmes
to unravel the truth of twelve great, real-life mysteries. Although
Holmes is the subject of just one of the mesmerizing true stories
in this collection, all twelve contain elements of intrigue. Many
of the protagonists are sleuths: a Polish detective trying to
determine whether an author planted clues to a real murder in his
post-modern novel; an arson investigator racing to prove whether a
man about to be executed is innocent; a legendary French con man
questioning whether he is the one who is suddenly being conned; and
scientists stalking a sea monster. Unlike the adventures of
Sherlock Holmes, these tales are all true. The protagonists are
mortal and pieces of the puzzle often elude them. Some of the
characters are driven to deception and murder. Others go mad. But
ultimately the stories contained in The Devil and Sherlock
Holmesshed light on the human condition, and why some people on
this earth devote themselves to good and others to evil. As Holmes
put it, 'Life is infinitely stranger than anything which the mind
of man could invent'.
A true story of greed and murder of Native Americans by their
countrymen Journalist Dennis McAuliffe Jr. grew up believing that
his Osage Indian grandmother, Sybil Bolton, had died an early death
in 1925 from kidney disease. It was only by chance that he learned
the real cause was a gunshot wound, and that her murder may well
have been engineered by his own grandfather. As McAuliffe peeled
away layers of suppressed history, he learned that Sybil was a
victim of the “Osage Reign of Terror”—a systematic killing
spree in the 1920s when white men descended upon the oil-rich Osage
reservation to court, marry, and murder Native women to gain
control of their money. The Deaths of Sybil Bolton is part murder
mystery, part family memoir, and part spiritual journey.
A grand mystery reaching back centuries. A sensational
disappearance that made headlines around the world. A quest for
truth that leads to death, madness or disappearance for those who
seek to solve it. "The Lost City of Z" is a blockbuster adventure
narrative about what lies beneath the impenetrable jungle canopy of
the Amazon.
After stumbling upon a hidden trove of diaries, acclaimed "New
Yorker" writer David Grann set out to solve "the greatest
exploration mystery of the twentieth century": What happened to the
British explorer Percy Fawcett and his quest for the Lost City of
Z?
In 1925 Fawcett ventured into the Amazon to find an ancient
civilization, hoping to make one of the most important discoveries
in history. For centuries Europeans believed the world's largest
jungle concealed the glittering kingdom of El Dorado. Thousands had
died looking for it, leaving many scientists convinced that the
Amazon was truly inimical to humankind. But Fawcett, whose daring
expeditions helped inspire Conan Doyle's "The Lost World, " had
spent years building his scientific case. Captivating the
imagination of millions around the globe, Fawcett embarked with his
twenty-one-year-old son, determined to prove that this ancient
civilization--which he dubbed "Z"--existed. Then he and his
expedition vanished.
Fawcett's fate--and the tantalizing clues he left behind about
"Z"--became an obsession for hundreds who followed him into the
uncharted wilderness. For decades scientists and adventurers have
searched for evidence of Fawcett's party and the lost City of Z.
Countless have perished, been captured by tribes, or gone mad. As
David Grann delved ever deeper into the mystery surrounding
Fawcett's quest, and the greater mystery of what lies within the
Amazon, he found himself, like the generations who preceded him,
being irresistibly drawn into the jungle's "green hell." His quest
for the truth and his stunning discoveries about Fawcett's fate and
"Z" form the heart of this complex, enthralling narrative.
From the bestselling author of "The Lost City of Z" comes this
brilliant collection of true stories about people whose fixations
propel them into unfathomable and often deadly circumstances.
Whether David Grann is investigating a mysterious murder, tracking
a chameleon-like con artist, or hunting an elusive giant squid, he
has proven to be one of the most gifted reporters and storytellers
of his generation. In "The Devil and Sherlock Holmes," Grann takes
the reader around the world, revealing a gallery of rogues and
heroes who show that truth is indeed stranger than fiction.
La fascinante historia de la ultima expedicion en busca de El
Dorado
En 1925, el legendario explorador britanico Percy Fawcett se
adentro en la selva del Amazonas, en busca de una legendaria
civilizacion situada en lo mas profundo de la mortal jungla. Nunca
regreso. En esta obra maestra de la no-ficcion narrativa, el
periodista David Grann nos cuenta la epica historia de la busqueda
de Fawcett de la "ciudad perdida de Z" en Peru, Bolivia y Brasil,
al tiempo que desentrana el mas grande misterio de los exploradores
del siglo XX.
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