The Last of the Mohicans

Written in 1826, but set in 1757, The Last of the Mohicans portrays ordinary men and women caught in the crossfires of the French and Indian War, when France and Great Britain battled for control of North America. Featuring double agents, dastardly villains, kidnappings, as well as stunning descriptions of the Adirondacks, the Catskills, and the Lake George area, this novel is considered Cooper’s greatest work. Indeed, its portrayals of the rugged yet resourceful frontiersman, as well as the wise, stoic Native American were genre-defining--as was Cooper’s sympathy for the plight of the First American cultures.

A historical romance that influenced North American literature for decades, The Last of the Mohicans remains a keystone text to this day.

James Fenimore Cooper (1789-1851) was an American writer best known for writing historical romances set in the early 18th century. Early in his career, Cooper was influenced by Jane Austen’s approach to fiction, but subsequently pivoted to writing the thrillers, historical romances, and American folklore that he is best known for. His novels, though outdated in their terminology, often highlight the plight of Native Americans, and the ways in which European colonialism ravaged Indigenous lands and communities.