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This is an electronic edition of the complete book complemented by author biography. This book features the table of contents linked to every novel and chapter. The book was designed for optimal navigation on the Kindle, PDA, Smartphone, and other electronic readers. It is formatted to display on all electronic devices including the Kindle, Smartphones and other Mobile Devices with a small display.

Customer Reviews (1)

Rediscovered treasure
The Leatherstocking Tales: The Deerslayer, The Last of the Mohicans, The Pathfinder, The Pioneers, The Prairie (all 5 Natty Bumppo novels) by James Fenimore Cooper. Published by MobileReference (mobi)

Cooper's works are wonderful blends of action and character development, evoking every emotion from the reader. "Last of the Mohicans" may be his best known novel in the Leatherstocking series (story line order: Deerslayer, Last of Mohicans, Pathfinder, Pioneer, and Prairie), but all five are really great frontier adventures for the outdoor woods lovers. ... Read more

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This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery. ... Read more

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Here is the gripping original Western that set the standard for the genre. Natty Bumppo is the quintessential Western hero, a faultless arbiter of wilderness justice. But he finds his love divided between the woman he has pledged to protect-and the untouched forest. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

nature, history, and action all in one
Decades ago I saw James Fenimore Cooper's The Last of the Mohicans in a public television production. It was exciting. But I had never read his books. The Pathfinder was another in the series, and proved just as good -- even better -- for reading. Detailed descriptions of the North American forests of the 18th century bring wild natural America, now almost all gone, to life. Meanwhile, though you can't learn American history from The Pathfinder, if you know some already, Cooper's commentary on the honor and the cynicism of Britain and France fighting over (and via) the Native Americans' lands is enlightening. Of course the dramatic chases and battle scenes are heart-pumping, and the romance is just realistic enough to maintain interest. Intrigue and a mystery twist at the end make for a first-rate historical novel. So switch off the TV -- even its best action, nature and history programs -- just for a few hours, and read The Pathfinder.

Exciting Books!
James Fennimore Cooper's five books, known as "The Leatherstocking Tales" (the Pathfinder is third in the series)are some of the most exciting books I've ever read! I highly recommend!! ... Read more

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SynopsisThe novels of James Fenimore Cooper are steeped in the history and lore of an America that had only recently established its independence and was still in the process of taming its vast wilderness. As the nation's first commercially successful professional novelist, Cooper was instrumental in helping to shape America's early cultural identity and giving voice to his country's unique political and social concerns. The five novels collected in this volume - The Pioneers, The Last of the Mohicans, The Prairie, The Pathfinder, and The Deerslayer - comprise Cooper's Leather-Stocking Tales, and feature the adventures of woodsman Natty Bumppo, a figure of independence and self-reliance who is recognized today as an American folk icon. Written over a twenty-year span and encompassing sixty years of American history, Cooper's tales are monuments of literature that capture the spirit of the fledgling nation and bring the drama of its settling colorfully to life. James Fenimore Cooper: Five Novels is part of Barnes & Noble's Library of Essential Writers. Each title in the series presents the finest works - complete and unabridged - from one of the greatest writers in literature in magnificent, elegantly designed hardback editions. Every volume also includes an original introduction that provides the reader with enlightening information on the writer's life and works.BiographyJames Fenimore Cooper is considered by many to be America's first great novelist. His most popular work, The Last of the Mohicans, has remained one of the most widely read novels throughout the world, greatly influencing the way many cultures have viewed both the American Indians and the frontier period of U.S. history. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Difficult but worth it
James Fenimore Cooper's "Leatherstocking Tales" is an excellent read.It's got something for everybody: action sequences, subtle sexual tension, suspense, and humor.Considering that Cooper wrote in the early nineteenth century, he is amazingly progressive, with characters that are conservationists and a portrayal of Native Americans as something more than underdeveloped savages.It is worth noting that this book is not easy reading; it's a hefty volume that will require readers to think about what the words mean.This is especially true because Cooper writes in an archaic style; the good news is the longer you read it the easier it gets.Another aspect that makes this difficult reading is that in some of the novels there are lots of characters that play auxiliary roles; it can be a challenge to keep all of the characters straight.

I would recommend this volume for anybody that saw the 1992 version of "Last of the Mohicans," enjoyed it, and likes reading.Additionally anybody that is interested in this time period (1744-1804) will appreciate Cooper's portrayal of life in the wilderness or near the frontier of the colonies or the infant US.And finally anybody that just appreciates spending time in the woods will find this book will keep them entertained when they cannot get into the great outdoors. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

The Leatherstocking TalesI
Cooper's Library of America's part one is phenomenal..... A great example of the extraordinary Americans who have contributed to literature in a massive way.

Natty Bumppo is One Bad...shut your mouth! What? I'm just talking about Natty Bumppo!??
Take an adventure through the life of America's first Action Hero!

Hawkeye, Natty, Nathaniel Bumppo, La Longue Carbine and Leather-stocking are a few of the many names for our protagonist. Respected, feared and known by all throughout the lands. His expert marksmanship, his level head and his Native customs make him a legend. You have to like a guy that names his rifle "Killdeer"!

The endless descriptive writing let's you mentally see a panoramic picture of the early frontier. Long before industry or the exodus out West forever changed the United States.

A wonderful addition to your mental and physical library.

Leatherstocking Tales Vol 1 Review
Cooper was superb at crafting an interesting tale with many twists, turns, interesting characters and action that would make a film director envious.This volume contains the famous Last of the Mohicans along with The Pioneers and The Prairie.The books are published in order of Cooper's writing, and not in chronological order of the fictional events told within.The Last of the Mohicans (sold as a separate novel also) is worthy of 5 stars just by itself.It's one of the all time classic American stories, with very few peers.Cooper's love of nature comes through in all five stories that make up the Leatherstocking Tales (two stories are contained in The Leatherstocking Tales Vol. 2).Last of the Mohicans is the strongest work of the three books in volume 1, but the others are also entertaining.The Pioneers takes a while to set up the story which has gained Cooper some criticism, but once it gets going, I found it difficult to put it down.The Prairie gets off to a slightly quicker start.For more great works by Cooper, do yourself a favor and please read Leatherstocking Tales Vol 2.This contains The Pathfinder and The Deerslayer.Hawkeye is at his best here, and so is Cooper.Both tales are just about as good as Last of the Mohicans even though they get less critical recognition.If you enjoy a well-told, exciting story, you'll enjoy Cooper.

Bumpo.Natty Bumpo (Nope, it just doesn't work).
Omnibus volume 1 of 2 in the Library of America edition of the "Leatherstocking tales"--five novels by Cooper that cover the live of a great woodsman in the 18th and 19th centuries.The most well known of the stories "Last of the Mohicans", was neither the first written nor the first in sequence, as Cooper compiled his life-work in scattershot style.

Library of Amerca Volume 1
written in
1823"The Pioneers"
1826"The Last of the Mohicans"
1827"The Prairie"

Library of America Volume 2
(James Fenimore Cooper : The Leatherstocking Tales II: The Pathfinder, The Deerslayer (Library of America))
written in
1840"The Pathfinder"
1841"The Deerslayer"



Books in the Library of America series deserve praise for their quality binding and paper, portable size, minimal but useful supporting materials, and reasonable price.I was fortunate to find this 2-volume set at a library book sale brand new (still in shrink wrap!) for $4 (total list price of $75).

First, lets address the order in which the reader may choose to read the books--as written by Cooper, or in chronological order of the character Natty Bumpo.After some internal debate, I chose to read them as Cooper wrote them, looking for changes in his character and his writing style to see if either the books or the character notably improved or regressed.To read them in chronological order of Natty Bumpo'ls life, read in this sequence:

"The Deerslayer"
"The Last of the Mohicans" - set in 1757 near present-day Glen Falls, NY, during the French and Indian War (the story references historical events and characters from the war).
"The Pathfinder"
"The Pioneers" - set in 1780s in upstate New York, farther west than the events in "Mohicans"
"The Prairie" - set in 1805 in the American midwest.

Cooper started with "The Pioneers", placing the aging Bumpo close to the end of his scouting career as the pioneers of the title crowd into and cut down his wilderness in upstate New York.The pioneers clear out the forests that Bumpo knows and loves. and drive away the wildlife he knows and respects and on which he earns his living and his livelihood.The series starter is at once more philosophical (Cooper--through the voice of Bumpo--comes across as a thoroughly modern environmentalist) and humorous (much of the book centers around the comical characters of the pioneers) than "Last of the Mohicans".Cooper's environmentalism is best expressed by Bumpo in "The Prairies", where he prophesies with the wisdom of his 80 years:

"Look around you, men; what will the Yankee choppers say, when they have cut their path from the eastern to the western waters, and find that a hand, which can lay the 'arth bare at a blow, has been here, and swept the country, in very mockery of their wickedness.They will turn on their tracks, like a fox that doubles, and then the rank smell of their own footsteps, will show them the madness of their waste."

We have lived to witness the fulfillment of his prophecy.

"Mohicans" is 2/3 of a ripping fast adventure story, that bogs down in the last 1/3 in arcane Native American politics.Cooper makes much--too much--of the political differences between and among Native tribes, distinctions made by a 19th century writer of an 18th century tale, distinctions based on 16th-century white European biases, none of which are meaningful or accurate to 21st century readers steeped in 20th-century revisionism to try to correct the tragic history of those last 5 centuries.

That said, it is easy to see why "Mohicans" is the centerpiece and most popular of the books, and the one most accessible to Hollywood (12 movie and television versions, including some foreign language films, most recently starring Daniel-Day Lewis in 1992).Cooper knows how to write a chase and a cliffhanger which that best screenwriter would have trouble improving upon, and his main characters (Bumpo and his native partners Chingachgook and Uncas) are not only strikingly modern in their environmentalism, but also in their laconic heroism.Clint Eastwood surely must have studied and copied their delivery to create his anti-heroic Dirty Harry Callahan persona.

"The Prairie" may be the strangest to read, as the reader progresses through the tale with the foreknowledge that he will see the end of the life of Natty Bumpo the person, but not the end of Natty Bumpo the literary character.This, and Cooper's writing style that now reads as wordy and stilted, take some of the edge off what could have been a great deathbed ending.Plus, like "The Pioneers", this book returns to the semi-comic style, with characters inserted for comic relief who engage in long monologues that just don't hold up as well today as when written 150 years or more ago.The Library of America notes on the texts says that "Mohicans" was aggressively edited to accelerate the pace of the narrative, and it shows.

"The Prairie" as the title suggests, was set on the flat grassland at the western edge of the "settled lands"--but still east of the Mississippi when Cooper originally wrote the novel!A measure of how quickly America was expanding west is evidenced by notes in revised editions just 20 years after Cooper's original writing that the setttlers had now overcome this territory and that "the 'settler' preceded by the 'trapper,' has already established himself on the shores of that vast sea [Pacific Ocean]."

Natty Bumpo is now a very old man (regularly admitting to four score years, and at one point referencing four score plus seven winters, or 87 years old) for his time. He is weak, shaky garrulous, forgetful and losing his eyesight, but still smart enough to think before acting, and wise enough to lead the motley crew of characters who stumble across his path out of harms way.

I would rate "Mohicans" five stars, "The Pioneers" four stars, and "The Prairie" three stars, and thrown in a bonus to Library of America for its aforementioned virtues. In general then, the experiment in reading the books in the sequence written didn't show a falloff of the quality of Cooper's writing, but rather reflects the writing style of the time and demonstrates the value of judicious editing in the case of "Mohicans." Interestingly, "The Prairie" was written and published during an extended stay in Paris, at a time when Cooper's financial straits demanded financial more than critical success. While born into landed wealth in upstate New York (Cooperstown is named for his family), Cooper endured periods of financial and critical failure during his career, and embroiled himself in several lawsuits that, won or lost, cost him money and reputation.

One interesting thing I took away from these three novels was how Cooper's writing preshadows (and possibly influenced?) J. R. R. Tolkien

1. The use of landscape and weather as characters and portents. The weather moves, predicts, and influences the actions and attitudes of characters.

2. The role of the "hidden king" taking his rightful place when identified after proving his worth as a commoner and a warrior among his people (Uncas in "Mohicans" and Aragorn in "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy).

3. The use of names to impart different meanings, perceptions, and purposes to a character based on the names others used to describe them- for example

Nathaniel Bumpo - given English name.

Natty Bumpo/Bumpho - informal English name.

Leatherstocking - English nickname for his long soft-leather leggings and moccasins he was known for wearing.

Hawkeye - name given by English-ally Indians for his accurate shooting aim

"the scout" or "the trapper" - names used often by Cooper to identify the character by his role

Longue Carabine - name given by French-ally Indians for his long-barreled rifle (which in a critical confrontation about which white man is really about

After writing these notes pointing out ways in which I found similarities between Cooper and Tolkien, I found this hit in Wikipedia:

"Cooper's work has greatly influenced J.R.R. Tolkien, whose Elves have many elements of Cooper's portraits of noble Native Americans, while some passages -- like the journey down the river Anduin in The Two Towers -- read like passages from The Last of the Mohicans."

[...]

However, finding additional hits to confirm this was difficult, and would make a worthy subject for future research for a English or American literature masters thesis.

James Fenimore Copper: The Leatherstocking Tales I
Excellent, high-quality binding, paper and typeface make this volume a joy to handle and read. The classic Leatherstocking Tales have never looked better. The time line and notes help place the readings in historical perspective.In re-reading the widely-known "Last of the Mohicans" as an adult, I am surprised at the level of violence and racism expressed.Cooper's introduction warns women and clergy from reading it - an early 19'th century view, but also modern in that one must have a sense of the historical period of the story, and of the author's times, to appreciate what has changed, and what unfortunately remains unchanged in our society and in human nature. ... Read more

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This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery. ... Read more

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This collection was designed for optimal navigation on Kindle and other electronic devices. It is indexed alphabetically, chronologically and by category, making it easier to access individual books and stories. This collection offers lower price, the convenience of a one-time download, and it reduces the clutter in your digital library. All books included in this collection feature a hyperlinked table of contents and footnotes. The collection is complimented by an author biography. Author's biography and stories in the trial version.

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Perfect format for the Kindle!
I've purchased over 20 of these complete author collections from this publisher. I have purchased William Shakespear, Charles Dckens, Mark Twain, Edgar Alan Poe, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Leo Tolstoy, Jule Verne, Oscar Wilde, Alexander Dumas, and a few others. These collections work superbly on the Kindle. Take Mark Twain collection. The collection includes huge number of Mark Twain's works all in one place, searchable and well-organized. If I would have purchased all these books separately, searching for `The Gilded Age' among hundreds of other books on my Kindle would be a nightmare. With Mobile Reference collections, I simply click `Works of Mark Twain', then click Novels> `The Gilded Age'. I can also click `List of works in alphabetical order' > `G' > `Gilded Age'. If I forget the book title but remember that `The Gilded Age' was written by Mark Twain early in his career, I can click on `List of works in chronological order' > (1873) `The Gilded Age'.

If I want another author, say, Charles Dickens, I click `Home' > `Works of Charles Dickens'. If I want Dostoevsky, I click `Works of Fyodor Dostoyevsky'. I think this format is perfect for organizing books on the Kindle.

Inside collections, each book has links to chapters and footnotes. The text is nicely formatted and seems to be complete and accurate - something that cannot always be said about inexpensive ebooks. I think these collections are great bargains both in terms of saved money, time, and book organization!

Works of James Fenimore Cooper
Complete Works of James Fenimore Cooper. (35Works). FREE Author's biography and Stories in the trial version

Great stuff! Just as advertised! Quick and smooth transaction. Thank you, I'll be back. ... Read more

Product Description
This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

"when an Injun does owe a grudge, he is pretty sartain to pay it, in full."
James Fenimore Cooper's 1843 novel WYANDOTTE spans a half century, from roughly 1745 to 1795. Its geographic focus is along latitude 43 of central New York Colony (and later State) between the Mohawk and Susquehannah rivers. The novel's political story is of the steady unraveling of Great Britain's hold on 13 of its North American colonies. And of the hard choices that individuals, families and a frontier community had to make in their loyalties.

At the family level the novel is about Captain Hugh Willoughby, born in England who retired in New York in 1765 after perhaps 40 years in His Majesty's 23rd Regiment of Foot. His father, a Lieutenant-Colonel, had died too young to provide Hugh with money needed to purchase ranks higher than Captain. But Hugh's American born wife Wilhelmina was more than moderately well off. And in 1775 Captain Willoughby would become Sir Hugh, inheriting a baronetcy that he did not esteem from a deceased cousin. The Willoughbys had one son, Robert, and a six-years younger daughter Beulah. They had also adopted as an infant Maud Meredith upon the death in wartime of her parents, close friends of the Willoughbys.

Captain Willoughby had long dreamed of owning land on the wilderness frontier of New York. In 1765, on leaving the army, he achieved this goal. The land he chose for a Royal Patent had been selected for him by Nick aka Saucy Nick, a Tuscarora Indian, a onetime chief whose tribe had expelled him for reasons we are never told. Thirty years earlier Nick had found some form of employment with the 23rd Regiment in which both Captain Willoughby and Major Meredith, Maud's father, were officers. Nick remembered Major Meredith fondly but had long meditated avenging three floggings given him by Captain Willoughby. Over time the two men had, however, made peace of sorts. And Nick had actually recommended the hard-to-find distant beaver pond around which Captain Willoughby built his claim to 7,000 acres of land.

In short order the Captain took a motley crew of English, Scottish and Irish workers out to his new claim and set up a small colony which he called the Hutted Knoll. There they built the Hut, a combined residence, storehouse and place of refuge for the growing colony.

Fast forward ten years to the spring of 1775. Twenty-seven year oldRobert Willoughby is a Major serving with the British forces in Boston. Captain WIlloughby is 60, wife Wilhelmina is 48, Beulah is 21 and Maud is 19. Nick the Tuscarora is 50.

In March 1776 the Americans, led by George Washington, drive the British from Boston. Four months later Congress declares American independence.The Willoughby household's and its frontier community's loyalties are torn between King and Congress. Pro-American Beulah marries a rich young neighbor, already a Colonel in the New York rebel forces. Loyalist Maud is secretly in love with "Bob," her adoptive brother. And he with her.

Curiously, the only other person who notices this love is the Indian Nick. Nick is fond of Wilhelmina and her two girls. Mrs Willoughby had, among many kindnesses, inoculated the Tuscarora against small pox and thereby saved his life during an outbreak. Beaulah and Maud has done him many kind deeds and always call him by his honored Indian name, Wyandotte. Seeing that Maud loves young Major Robert Willoughby, Wyandotte/Nick extends his protective care to that officer as well.

But Nick has a mercurial love/hate/respect/fear relationship with Captain WIlloughby. To the Captain, the Indian is a racial inferior, crafty and to be trusted only when he actively fears punishment. And then, during a raid on the Hut by Indians and Americans disguised as Indians, WIlloughby, without need, reminds Nick of the three blood-drawing lashings of old. Willoughby also haughtily threatens to lash Nick on the spot for not telling him precisely how during a siege by the land-grabbing Americans he had stolen into the compound. This insult removes all the long smoldering inhibitions from Nick who now seeks an opportunity for vengeance on the father. At the same time, this Jekyll-Hyde Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hydedoes deadly battle with Mohawks and others who threaten the scalps of the three white women whom Nick/Wyandotte cherishes.

There are many gripping aspects to WYANDOTTE. Black household slaves, Irish, English, Scottish, American Yankee and even Dutch men and women are, for instance, presented with all their varieties of English and differing versions of Christianity. Envy of some of the Captain's dependents gnaws at them until they actively combine to convince American authorities that the Captain is a Tory. The plot of these uncouth rabble rousers, mainly men from New England, is to persuade New York authorities to confiscate the English Captain's Hutted Knoll and turn it over to them.

But the Tuscarora Indian Nick/Wyandotte is by far the most riveting of all characters, possibly, in my opinion, the greatest of Fenimore Cooper's literary creations. He loves. He hates. As Nick he can be a sniveling, money mooching drunk. But when he chooses to be Wyandotte, he is great, wise, loving, generous.

Nineteen years pass after the violent events around the Hutted Knoll in 1776. One time Major, now General Sir Robert Willoughby, Bart., and his ever beautiful wife return in 1795 from England to see if there is still marketable value in their old New York estate. General Willoughby has a final meeting with Nick/Wyandotte, now, in his mentally tortured old age, a Christian convert baptized Nicholas. The novel concludes with Willoughby's final comment on the Tuscarora -- betimes a rogue, betimes a great, fearless chief: "He never forgot a favor, or forgave an injury."

The same thesis, in varying formulations, is applied by condescending whites to Nick or to other Indian savages on a half dozen other occasions in WYANDOTTE. They offer a drumbeat leit motif propelling this great novel from 1745 to 1795. -OOO- ... Read more

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This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery. ... Read more

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This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery. ... Read more

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This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery. ... Read more

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MEET NATTY BUMPPO

The first volume in the famous Leatherstocking Tales, The Pioneers introduces Natty Bumppo, the quintessential American hunter and frontiersman who struggles to defend his cherished freedom. ... Read more

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Exciting!
James Fennimore Cooper's five books known as "The Leatherstocking Tales" ( the Pioneers is the fourth in the series) are some of the most exciting books I've ever read.I highly recommend! ... Read more

Product Description
This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery. ... Read more

Product Description
This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery. ... Read more

Product Description
This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery. ... Read more

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This, one of Fenimore Cooper's last novels, contains both a remarkable description of Antarctic exploring and one of the author's most direct discussions of religion - a subject which increasingly claims importance in his later fiction. ... Read more

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This volume is produced from digital images created through the University of Michigan University Library's preservation reformatting program. The Library seeks to preserve the intellectual content of items in a manner that facilitates and promotes a variety of uses. The digital reformatting process results in an electronic version of the text that can both be accessed online and used to create new print copies. This book and thousands of others can be found in the digital collections of the University of Michigan Library. The University Library also understands and values the utility of print, and makes reprints available through its Scholarly Publishing Office. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (11)

Service review
The book arrived on time and in excellent condition as advertised.What more could you want?

Good book with great characters.Better than THE PIONEERS, not as good as THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS
This is the third in the five-volume series known as The Leatherstocking Tales.Here we catch up with Natty Bumppo (known here simply as 'the trapper') 10 years after the close of The Pioneers, as the end of his life approaches.He's left behind civilization of any kind, and seems to just want to be left alone, to live out his final days in peace and harmony.Not so fast, though, Bumppo!Along comes the family if Ishmael Bush, among whose troubles the trapper quickly gets entangled.From rescuing fair damsels in distress to facing down angry Indians, the ensuing adventure, while hardly seeming to ruffle the feathers of the unflappable Bumppo, is of the most-serious nature, with life and death on the line, and many depending on his skill and cunning.

To me, this book stands out as having some of the best supporting cast of any of the Leatherstocking tales.Paul Hover, Ellen Wade, Captain Middleton, Dr. Battius, Esther, Ishmael, Abiram White, and Hard-Heart are all strong and colorful characters that give this book some much-needed flavor.While they're not overly-developed (to say the least), as Cooper allows the readers' imagination to fill in many gaps about appearance and personalities, by the end of this book you'll really feel like you've got a handle on who these people really are, and what drives each and every one.Even Asinus and Hector come to be much-adored by the end of this book.To me, it is the characters that make this book a success, elevating it above some of Cooper's other work.

Like all of Cooper's novels, this one could have used a bit of aggressive editing, being longer than necessary, and at times downright boring.Of course, this mostly stems from his overly-pedantic writing, where he (as the narrator) and his characters (in their dialogue) talk in some of the most flowery and round-about manners to get across rather simple ideas.Almost as if Cooper was trying to prove something to his European critics, but maybe just a symptom of the Romanticist times.Either way, it makes this book fairly slow going, and will unfortunately discourage many readers.Really, the only one of his books that doesn't have excessively wordy descriptions is The Last of the Mohicans, and there is no surprise why that one has been the most popular.

I enjoyed THE PRAIRIE.Much better than THE PIONEERS, but not as good as THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.Recommended for fans of the classics.

Exciting!!!
James Fennimore Cooper's five books known as "The Leatherstocking Tales" ( the Prairie is the last in the series) are some of the most exciting books I've ever read.I highly recommend

Needed it to complete the set.
I was very happy with the product and the timely manner in which I received it. I'm an American Literature teacher and I needed "The Prairie" to complete the set of James Fenimore Cooper's five volume set of the Leatherstocking Tales. I had a student waiting for the book and now he's well into it. Thanks!

The Prairie
'The Prairie' is the third of Cooper's Leatherstocking tales in order of publication and the final in chronological order. It is also the last of the original three books ('The Pathfinder' and 'The Deerslayer' were written much later).Here Leatherstocking - now referred to as the Trapper - is in his late eighties and yet still possesses some of the vitality of a hardened wilderness man.

The book seamlessly segues from 'The Pioneers' even though ten years have elapsed. Disenchanted by the spread of civilization, the Trapper crosses the Mississippi to escape its influence.At the start, Cooper's theme about the destruction of the American wilderness is woven into the narrative.

Unfortunately, the tight plotting Cooper displayed in 'The Last of the Mohicans' - the book he wrote before this one - is largely missing in 'The Prairie.'The plot takes a good 150-200 pages to get moving, and then it has some long lulls in between some rather interesting scenes.

In general, the book is pretty much what you would expect from Cooper - though he demonstrates in these five books that he is nothing if not inconsistent.The supporting characters in this book are rather more thinly drawn than even his usual work, so there's not a lot of empathy for the reader. For much of the book, I found myself reading just to find out the final fate of Natty Bumppo. ... Read more