BEACH READING

'Fatal Journey: The Final Expedition of Henry Hudson'
By Peter C. Mancall (Basic Books, $26.95)

Henry Hudson was an English navigator and explorer. Not much is known about his early life, but as an adult Mr. Hudson was a stubborn and determined man. In fact, it was that very bullheadedness that eventually led to his death.

Mr. Hudson's first three attempts to find a northeast passage to Asia ended in failure, although he did become the first European to explore parts of North America and helped establish Dutch claims in the region. During the winter of 1610, he decided to make yet another try. Financed by the Virginia Company and the British East India Company, he picked a 22-man crew that included his 17-year-old son, and together they set sail in a small ship, The Discovery.

Mr. Hudson chose a northerly route past Ireland, and after avoiding fields of icebergs and overcoming other obstacles, his ship became icebound in what would soon become known as Hudson Bay. By the time the spring thaw arrived, food supplies were scarce and the crew had become cranky. Mr. Hudson wanted to press on, but his plan triggered a mutiny.

Mr. Hudson, his son and seven others were placed in a skiff and set afloat in the bay, where they quickly perished in one of the most remote places on the planet. Their remains were never found.

It isn't easy to

blow the dust off of 400 years of history and make it relevant, but Peter C. Mancall has managed to do just that. Mr. Mancall, a professor of history and anthropology at the University of Southern California, has meticulously pieced together what little is known about Mr. Hudson and the terrible fate he was dealt on his final expedition.

This is an incredible, true story of mutiny and murder set against the harsh backdrop of the Arctic. It is an extraordinary tale of one man's determination and the marks he made on world history that continue to reverberate even to this day.