From the inimitable brilliance of O'Brian comes the tale of an ill-fated ship on Anson's expedition around the world and the ensuing adventures of her survivors...After being parted from her squadron in the fearful storms off Cape Horn, the Wager struggles on alone up the ironbound coast of Chile, before she is driven onto rocks and sinks. The survivors include Jack Byron, a midshipman, and his eccentric protege Toby, an alarmingly naive surgeon's mate, whose vagaries afford endless diversion on the hard and dramatic journey to come.Faced with a surplus of rum, a disappearing stock of food, and a hard, detested captain, the survivors soon descend into trouble of every kind, including drunkenness, mutiny and bloodshed.