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Fatal Journey: The Final Expedition Of Henry Hudson (2009)

by Peter C. Mancall(Favorite Author)

3.17 of 5 Votes: 2

ISBN

046500511X (ISBN13: 9780465005116)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

Basic Books

review 1: In 1610, the explorer Henry Hudson and his crew found themselves trapped in what would later be known as Hudson Bay. After a brutal winter, with tensions brewing among the crew, a mutiny broke out. The mutineers set nine men adrift in a small boat, including Hudson and his teenage son. Those men were never seen again, and many of the mutineers later died at the hands of natives as they tried to make their way back to England. For decades, no explorers returned to that area. Mancall has no definite solution to the mystery of what happened to Hudson after the mutiny, and where his remains might lie, though it seems likely that his assumptions are correct. Given the brutal cold and harsh conditions of the area, even a well equipped group of explorers might have struggled to g... moreet by. It's almost inevitable Hudson and his loyal companions died quickly, despite rumors to the contrary.This book has interesting details, but at times the narrative of the text seems almost mired in those details. Given the life-and-death nature of the history involved, Mancall's writing often seems almost bloodless by contrast.
review 2: A bit stiff & stuttering. A lack of primary materials means the narrative is too reliant on conjecture ("perhaps he" and "he may have") and there's not enough information available to tell an exciting, immediate story. Likewise, the novel is "filled out" with extraneous contextual information. A certain amount of historical context and details of the day is enlightening -- the heavy leaning on it here feels tangential. less

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