The Last of the Mohicans: James Cooper

Published in 1826, The Last of the Mohicans is an adventure story centred on the kinship between white frontiersman, Natty Bumppo - or `Hawkeye` - and two Mohican Indians, Chingachgook and his son Uncas. The action takes place during the French and Indian War. Alice and Cora, daughters of a British fort commander, are on a perilous journey through the dark forests of western New York. Their Huron guide, Magua, turns out to be a traitorous French sympathizer who holds the sisters captive until Hawkeye and the Mohicans come to their rescue. Even then, their troubles are far from over.