The Derslayer

With a new Introduction by Cedric Watts, M.A., Ph.D., Research Professor of English, University of Sussex. 'The Deerslayer' is the culmination of James Fenimore Cooper's "Leather-Stocking" novels, featuring Natty Bumppo (the deer-slaying young frontiersman) and the Mohican chief, Chingachgook. Cooper portrays the hubris of the conquest of a vast territory. The action takes place during the American wars of the 1740s. Natty and his friend Harry attempt to save a trapper and two young women, whose floating fort on Lake Glimmerglass is besieged by the ruthless Iroquois. The tension steadily increases to the point at which a cruel outcome seems inevitable. The exciting action, the romantic potentialities and the knowledgeable evocation of frontier life (with its moral and racial conflicts) have made this novel a perennial favourite. The courageous Natty, with his problematic values, has set the precedent for countless American heroes. Culturally, 'The Deerslayer' has proved to be a powerfully influential work. AUTHOR: James Fenimore Cooper (1789-1851) was an American novelist who, at the height of his fame, was one of the world's most widely read writers, and could claim to be America's first popular novelist. Although no longer enjoying the same reputation of past times, his novels, 'The Last of the Mohicans' and 'The Deerslayer' are fine pieces of work.