Batavia's Graveyard
author of Tulipomania comes Batavia's Graveyard, the spellbinding true story of mutiny, shipwreck, murder, and survival.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--some 1,800 miles north--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.Jeronimus took control almost immediately, preaching his own twisted version of heresy he'd learned in Holland's secret Anabaptist societies.
Stats for nerds
3recommend
5mentions
5people
2016–2023years
60% recommend40% neutral
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- Batavia's Graveyard by Mike Dash is a book I'd highly recommend to anyone wanting to do a deep dive into this truly bizarre story.
- Older books, bought secondhand and enjoyed:
Batavia’s Graveyard - A brutal history of a shipwreck and subsequent mutiny that occurred off the coast of Australia in 1629 when Dutch traders were exploring a new route to the East Indies. Much better than expected from the cover.
Gates of Fire - Historical fiction that tells the story of the Spartan 300 and the battle of Thermopylae. Lived up to it’s high recommendation.
A People’s Tragedy: The Russian Revolution: 1891-1924 - still working my way through this detailed tome, but enjoying the style of the author.
- You may also be interested in Batavia's Graveyard. Fascinating & gruesome account of a Dutch ship's voyage to Java. The descriptions of the personalities and motivations of those willing to undertake such a risky voyage, were in many cases like a gamblers last throw of the dice.
Very well researched, about 1/3 of the book is references/footnotes.
- > The Dutch councils of state and war always included merchants who had experience of trading and living abroad [...]
As eloquently described by Mike Dash in "Batavia's Graveyard" most Dutch explorer ships had merchants, sailors, soldiers and civilians on board — ranked in that order. That is, not the captain but the bean counter would have final say on important matters.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/128824.Batavia_s_Graveya...
- Currently reading "Batavia's Graveyard" by Mike Dash based on a previous HN recommendation. A deep dive into the tragedy.
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