Batavia's Graveyard by Mike Dash

Batavia's Graveyard by Mike Dash

It was the autumn of 1628, and the Batavia, the Dutch East India Company's flagship, was loaded with a king's ransom in gold, silver, and gems for her maiden voyage to Java. The Batavia was the pride of the Company's fleet, a tangible symbol of the world's richest and most powerful commercial monopoly. She set sail with great fanfare, but the Batavia and her gold would never reach Java, for the Company had also sent along a new employee, Jeronimus Corneliszoon, a bankrupt and disgraced man who possessed disarming charisma and dangerously heretical ideas. With the help of a few disgruntled sailors, Jeronimus soon sparked a mutiny that seemed certain to succeed-but for one unplanned event: In the dark morning hours of June 3, the Batavia smashed through a coral reef and ran aground on a small chain of islands near Australia. The commander of the ship and the skipper evaded the mutineers by escaping in a tiny lifeboat and setting a course for Java to summon help. Nearly all of the passengers survived the wreck and found themselves trapped on a bleak coral island without water, food, or shelter. Leaderless, unarmed, and unaware of Jeronimus's treachery, they were at the mercy of the mutineers.

Mike Dash is a historian and former journalist whose work has featured in a variety of national publications. Satan's Circus, Thug, The First Family, and Tulipomania are among his seven New York Times bestseller novels. He is based in London.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780609807163
ISBN 10	0609807161
Title	Batavia's Graveyard
Author	Mike Dash
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Random House USA Inc
Year published	2003-05-27
Number of pages	512
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.