Fatal Journey: The Final Expedition of Henry Hudson
by Peter C. Mancall
List Price:
Our Price: $0.23
You Save: $26.72 (99%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $0.01 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Peter C. MancallEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2009-06-09
ISBN: 046500511X
Number of pages: 320
Publisher: Basic Books
Book Reviews of Fatal Journey: The Final Expedition of Henry Hudson
Book Review: A gripping account of Hudson's fourth and final voyage
Summary: 5 Stars
With 20009 the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson's landmark third voyage, it is understandable there is interest in his accomplishments. If Americans recall Hudson at all, it is for this particular voyage for the Dutch that led to the discovery and exploration of Chesapeake Bay and the river in modern-day New York that bears his name. Typically though Hudson is somewhat lost in the array of explorers who mapped the Americas. While his name lives on, few Americans are familiar with his ill-fated fourth and final voyage of 1610 and 1611; "Fatal Journey" seeks to redress this. Canadians in particular are well acquainted with Hudson's fourth voyage as it gave the name to present day Hudson Bay, the site of Hudson's demise.
From today's perspective it is hard to grasp the dangers Hudson and his crew faced. The Americas were uncharted unmapped wilderness, fraught with the potential for disaster, and Hudson was sailing with no back up, no support network, no Plan B if things took a turn for the worse. And turn for the worse things did. Rather than returning to England as winter draws near, Hudson opts to hunker down so he can resume exploration in the spring. But Hudson has no idea what Canada's winter's are like. His ship becomes trapped in the ice. In the remote wilderness, far from anyone who could help Hudson and his crew begin to run low on provisions. Eventually his crew becomes so desperate to eat they try and chase down polar bears for food. When spring comes Hudson announces his intention to resume exploring rather than return to England the crew mutinies. The Elizabethan social code of conduct begins to break down as the crew questions the leadership of Hudson, their senior officer and leader. Mancall explores the psychology of the crew and what lead them to mutiny and the somewhat delusional beliefs they held about how they could explain what had happened once they returned to England. Some felt the investors would be glad the ship and most of her crew returned. Others felt justified in removing Hudson and felt if they had a chance to explain their side the courts would take pity on them. Others wanted to spin various explanations to desperately avoid the hangman's noose. As you read how the surviving crew came to a decision on how to explain their actions you come to realize that even in the vast wilderness of North America it was hard to cover up your own misdeeds. In the end the crew dispatches Hudson, Hudson's son John, and seven other crew members into a small boat to fend for themselves.
Mancall doesn't spend much time pondering the fate of Hudson and his fellow castaways; they likely survived a month at most before perishing. Instead "Fatal Journey" seeks to add flesh and blood to the Age of Exploration rather than having it remain a series of names, dates and places we learned by rote in school. Explorers didn't always succeed and there was a true cost to be paid, as in Hudson's case, when things went horribly wrong. Mancall admits early on there are few primary source documents to use regarding Hudson's fourth voyage other than a journal written by crewman Abacuk Pricket some years after the fact. Such later recollections are notoriously unreliable and it doesn't help that Pricket's journal portrays his own actions in the most favorable light. But as Evan Haefeli and Kevin Sweeney would point out in both "Captive Histories" and "Captors and Captives" you can glean valuable insights from unreliable materials once you strip away biases and a lack of objectivity. "Fatal Journey" is less about creating a hagiography of Henry Hudson than it is about his crew members, who contributed much as much to the exploration as Hudson. Certainly it was Hudson's vision and determination, but he couldn't have gone it alone and every crew member played an important role. Ultimately "Fatal Journey" seeks to shed light on the unsung heroes and participants in the Age of Exploration, that vast multitude of nameless souls who contributed equally. It was they who ultimately led to the success of the explorers, or, as in the case of Hudson, to their demise.
Summary of Fatal Journey: The Final Expedition of Henry Hudson
The English explorer Henry Hudson devoted his life to the search for a water route through America, becoming the first European to navigate the Hudson River in the process. In Fatal Journey, acclaimed historian and biographer Peter C. Mancall narrates Hudson?s final expedition.
In the winter of 1610, after navigating dangerous fields of icebergs near the northern tip of Labrador, Hudson?s small ship became trapped in winter ice. Provisions grew scarce and tensions mounted amongst the crew. Within months, the men mutinied, forcing Hudson, his teenage son, and seven other men into a skiff, which they left floating in the Hudson Bay.
A story of exploration, desperation, and icebound tragedy, Fatal Journey vividly chronicles the undoing of the great explorer, not by an angry ocean, but at the hands of his own men.
United States Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in United States Books
The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depressionby Amity Shlaes
HarperAudio; Published: 2007-06-12; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $15.88
Price in other shops:
Profiles in Courage (slipcased edition): Decisive Moments in the Lives of Celebrated Americansby John F. Kennedy
Harper; Published: 2006-10-17; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $8.99
Price in other shops:
Going Rogue: An American Lifeby Sarah Palin
Broadside Books; Published: 2010-08-24; Paperback; Book
Best price: $0.01
Price in other shops:
Dreamland: A Novelby Kevin Baker
Harper Perennial; Published: 2002-10-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.99
Price in other shops:
April 1865: The Month That Saved America (P.S.)by Jay Winik
Harper Perennial; Published: 2006-08-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.56
Price in other shops:
And You Know You Should Be Glad: A True Story of Lifelong Friendshipby Bob Greene
William Morrow; Published: 2006-05-02; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $0.30
Price in other shops:
Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Mealby Eric Schlosser
PBS; Harper Perennial; Published: 2005-07-05; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.74
Price in other shops:
Thomas Jefferson: A Lifeby Willard Sterne Randall
Harper Perennial; Published: 1994-06-18; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.06
Price in other shops:
Winning Local and State Electionsby Ann Beaudry
Free Press; Published: 1986-05-26; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $8.44
Price in other shops:
Stonewall Jacksonby James Robertson
Macmillan Pub.; Published: 1997-02-18; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $48.00
Price in other shops:
Similar Books and other products
American Tempest: How the Boston Tea Party Sparked a Revolutionby Harlow Giles Unger
Da Capo Press; Published: 2011-03-08; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $1.96
Price in other shops:
Making Haste from Babylon: The Mayflower Pilgrims and Their World: A New Historyby Nick Bunker
Knopf; Published: 2010-04-13; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $5.91
Price in other shops:
The American Civil War: A Military Historyby John Keegan
Knopf; Published: 2009-10-20; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $4.39
Price in other shops:
In the Land of White Death: An Epic Story of Survival in the Siberian Arcticby Valerian Albanov
Modern Library; Published: 2000-10-17; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.98
Price in other shops:
Captain James Cook: A Biographyby Richard Alexander Hough
W. W. Norton & Company; Published: 1997-03-17; Paperback; Book
Best price: $11.29
Price in other shops:
In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essexby Nathaniel Philbrick
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 2001-05-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.25
Price in other shops:
Nathanael Greene: A Biography of the American Revolutionby Gerald M. Carbone
Palgrave Macmillan; Published: 2008-06-24; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $15.99
Price in other shops:
The Last Place on Earth (Modern Library Exploration)by Roland Huntford
Modern Library; Published: 1999-09-07; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.09
Price in other shops:
Over the Edge of the World: Magellan's Terrifying Circumnavigation of the Globe (P.S.)by Laurence Bergreen
William Morrow Paperbacks; Published: 2004-11-02; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.95
Price in other shops:
The Man Who Ate His Boots: The Tragic History of the Search for the Northwest Passageby Anthony Brandt
Knopf; Published: 2010-03-02; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $4.33
Price in other shops: