Fatal Journey: The Final Expedition of Henry Hudson - Hardcover

Mancall, Peter C.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 046500511X ISBN 13: 9780465005116

Publisher: Basic Books, 2009

Synopsis

In this title, an acclaimed historian tells the tale of Henry Hudson's doomed final voyage in search of sea passage across the New World on its 400th anniversary. Henry C. Hudson - English mariner, storied explorer, and eponymous navigator of the Hudson River - throughout the final years of his life had a single obsession: The Northwest Passage. Finding a water route through America to East Asia was foremost on the minds of many explorers of the 17th Century, but no explorer of that era had the expertise of Henry Hudson. From 1607 to 1610, Hudson attempted multiple failed voyages, first by very nearly traversing the North Pole, then alternately by sailing along the northern edge of Russia. In the winter of 1610 he set out one final time in his small ship, the Discovery, with a 22-man crew that included his son. It was to be a most difficult journey, but his financial backers took solace from the fact that the Discovery was commanded by a man who was known to be among the most skilled navigators of his generation. Hudson had proved himself one of the bravest seamen of the time, drawn to potentially difficult passages despite their challenges. Alas, all of Hudson's navigational skill could not save his venture. Taking a far northerly route past Iceland, the crew passed through fields of dangerous icebergs as they rounded the northern tip of Labrador. Against the approach of winter ice, the Discovery entered what would eventually become known as Hudson Bay. The Discovery became trapped in ice near the shores of James Bay during the winter. Provisions grew scarce, tensions among crew-members grew aggravated, and when the ice began to thaw the following June, members of his crew led a mutiny against him. Hudson, his teenage son, and seven other men were forced into a shallow-bottom boat and left for dead, floating in the Hudson Bay, as the mutineers sailed the Discovery homeward. In "Fatal Journey", acclaimed historian Peter C. Mancall tells the full story of Hudson, his men, and the fate of the mutineers for the first time, employing narratives from the expedition itself, testimony offered in trials of the survivors, and the last words that Hudson ever wrote. A story of exploration, desperation, and ice-bound tragedy, "Fatal Journey" vividly illustrates an incredible moment in the 17th century when Henry Hudson faced the perils of the unknown.

About this title

Review

Booklist
“Mancall’s account of the doomed voyage is exciting, tense, and tragic.... This is an excellent re-examination of [Hudson] and his final, sad effort.”

Minneapolis Star Tribune
“[Mancall’s] facility with primary sources is astounding. The story of Hudson’s last voyage becomes, in his experienced hands, a lucid, fascinating lens into early Atlantic explorations. The book bristles with action, details about ship life, insight into British laws (the mutineers were found not guilty), and jaw-dropping accounts of encounters with Americans.”

Seattle Times
“This is a story that stretches the imagination and leaves the reader with a shiver.”

Las Cruces Sun-News
“Mancall [is] a master storyteller and historian.... Any reader of Dr. Mancall’s account will be caught in an exciting adventure and overwhelming tragedy.”

Washington Times
“Mr. Mancall writes with authority in tone and scholarship.”

New York Post
“Rather than speculate, Mancall delivers the story of how Hudson’s crusade put him on a collision course with his men.... But the story is perhaps most compelling in its descriptions of the Northern territory itself.”

Washington Post
“[Fatal Journey] recounts the puzzling episode of a captain overthrown by an enraged faction of his own crew.... [A] short and dependable guide to what befell a great but flawed explorer.”

Newark Star-Ledger
“For fans of Mutiny on the Bounty and The Caine Mutiny, Fatal Journey will only add to the store and lore of desperate actions on the high seas.... [Mancall] combines forensic history with pulsing narrative to achieve a highly credible account of how the mission unraveled.”

Boston Globe
“Bracingly told.”

Boston Globe
“Fatal Journey is a rich, exhilarating narrative of exploration, desperation, and ice-bound tragedy.”

History Magazine
“Mancall places Hudson and the mutiny in the context of their age, a time when economic and cultural forces lured explorers and sailors into the dangers of a new world in search of profit and fame.”

Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research
“Mancall, in this fascinating account based on a great deal of research, provides a reasonable explanation of Hudson’s likely fate, after probably surviving for a polar winter or two.... I recommended this excellent book to both armchair explorers and serious students of the history of the Arctic.”

The Working Waterfront
“Fatal Journey is both poignant and tragic. Henry Hudson is presented as a dominating, unyielding captain, consumed with an Ahab-like obsession to seek a northern passage.”

About the Author

Peter C. Mancall is Professor of History and Anthropology at the University of Southern California, and director of the USC-Huntington Early Modern Studies Institute. He is the author of Hakluyt's Promise and At the Edge of Empire. He lives in Los Angeles.

Edition details

• Publisher: Basic Books
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 046500511X
• ISBN 13: 9780465005116
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 288