Larger	The Pioneers Author: James Fenimore Cooper
	Book Information Publisher: Penguin Classics Book Type: Paperback Rating: 6 ISBN-13: 9780140390070 - ISBN-10: 0140390073 Publication Date: 6/6/1988 Pages: 480

The first of the five Leatherstocking Tales, The Pioneers is perhaps the most realistic and beautiful of the series. Drawing on his own experiences, Cooper brilliantly describes Frontier life, providing a fascinating backdrop to the real heart of the novel--the competing claims to land ownership of Native Americans and settlers. This edition follows the publication of The Last of the Mohicans in the World's Classics series and uses the standard text approved by the Modern Language Association.

First published in 1823.

From the back of the book:

In this classic novel, James Fenimore Cooper portrays life in a new settlement on New York's Lake Otsego in the closing years of the eighteenth century. He describes the year's cycle: the turkey shoot at Christmas, the tapping of maple trees, fishing for bass in the evening, the marshalling of the militia.

But Cooper is also concerned with exploring the development of the cultural and philosophical underpinnings of the American experience. He writes of the conflicts within the settlement itself, focusing primarily on the contrast between the natural codes of the hunter and woodsman Natty Bumppo and his Indian friend John Mohegan and the more rigid structure of law needed by a more complex society.

Quite possibly America's first best-seller more than three thousand copies were sold within hours of publication), The Pioneers evokes a vibrant and authentic picture of the American pioneering experience.