Real People, Real Stories: “Batavia” by Peter FitzSimons (WL)

Real People/Real Stories explores the best in nonfiction history, biography, science, nature, and the arts.

This month’s read: Batavia, by Peter FitzSimons

In 1629, the Batavia, a ship owned by the Dutch East India Company, wrecked off the coast of Western Australia leaving 250 people stranded on a barren island. What followed in this shocking, true life tale was a “battle of good vs evil, the derring-do of sea-faring adventure, mutiny, ship-wreck, love, lust, blood-lust, petty fascist dictatorship, criminality, a reign of terror, murders most foul, sexual slavery, natural nobility, survival, retribution, rescue, first contact with native peoples and so much more.”