The Last of the Mohicans

During the French and Indian War, the frontier scout Hawkeye and his Mohican companions Chingachgook and Uncas guide two sisters through hostile wilderness, pursued by the vengeful Huron warrior Magua. Cooper fills his frontier epic with ambush, rescue, and the clash of cultures amid the forests of colonial New York. Though romantic in its portrayal of the vanishing wilderness and its peoples, the novel created enduring archetypes of the American adventure story. The most famous of the Leatherstocking Tales, The Last of the Mohicans remains a foundational work of American fiction and a stirring tale of loyalty and survival.