|
This novel, the second of Cooper's five Leatherstocking Tales, has captured the imagination of generations since publication in 1826. Set against the wild landscapes of North America, at the novel's centre is the celebrated 'Massacre' of British troops and their families by Indian allies of the French in 1757. Around this historical event Cooper builds a romantic fiction of captivity, sexuality, and heroism, in which the destiny of the Mohican Chingachgook and his son Uncas is inseparable from the lives of Alice and Cora Munro and of Hawk-eye the frontier scout. This edition includes an innovative historical essay, placing the novel in the specific contexts of the colonial and Indian wars.
|
