The five books span Bumppo’s life, from coming of age through approaching death. He continued to write about the American frontier in his third book, The Pioneer, which featured backcountry scout Natty Bumppo, known in this book as “Leather-stocking.” The character, representing goodness, purity and simplicity, became tremendously popular, and reappeared, by popular demand, in five more novels, known collectively as the “Leather-stocking Tales.” The second book in the series, The Last of the Mohicans, is still widely read today. The story was set during the American Revolution and featured George Washington as a character. The Last of the Mohicans is a historical novel written by James Fenimore Cooper in 1826, set during the French and Indian War. His first novel, Precaution, modeled on Jane Austen, was not successful, but his second, The Spy, influenced by the popular writings of Sir Walter Scott, became a bestseller, making Cooper the first major American novelist. One of the earliest distinctive American novels, the book is the second of the five-novel series called the Leatherstocking Tales. Thus, the term used in the title of this book has undergone the changes of Mahicanni, Mohicans, and Mohegans the latter being the word commonly used by the whites. Having drifted for a decade, Cooper began writing a novel after his wife challenged him to write something better than he was reading at the moment. The whites have assisted greatly in rendering the traditions of the Aborigines more obscure by their own manner of corrupting names. When Cooper was about 20, his father died, and he became financially independent.

Cooper attended Yale but joined the Navy after he was expelled for a prank. One of the earliest distinctive American novels, the book is the second of the five-novel series called the “Leatherstocking Tales.”Ĭooper was born in 1789 in New Jersey and moved the following year to the frontier in upstate New York, where his father founded frontier-town Coopersville. On February 4, 1826, The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper is published. s first great novelist, The Last of the Mohicans is a story of survival and treachery, love and deliverance.

Last of the mohicans original book