Early morning, April 1789. Captain Bligh is abruptly dragged from his cabin. Wrists bound, bayonet pressed to his chest, he and a few loyal sailors are forced into a tiny launch and set adrift on the vast Pacific Ocean. This far from land, no-one is likely to survive for long.

History remembers Captain Bligh as a cruel, petty tyrant. The reality is more complicated. Bligh championed rational thought and showed his men great kindness on that famous voyage on the Bounty - yet it ended in mutiny. So what went wrong?

This is the third episode in a four-part series about fairness. It's based on David Bodanis' excellent book The Art of Fairness: The Power of Decency In A World Turned Mean.

For a full list of sources, see the show notes at timharford.com.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Reason, Wrath and Rebellion on the High Seas 41:14 Share

Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford

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Reason, Wrath and Rebellion on the High Seas