The Pathfinder: Or the Inland Sea (The ^AWorld's Classics). This item is unavailable.The Pathfinder: Or the Inland Sea (The ^AWorld's Classics)

"The Pathfinder" (1840), the fourth of Cooper's five "Leather-Stocking Tales", is a naval story set on the Great Lakes of the 1750s. Based upon his own experience as midshipman on Lake Ontario in 1808-9, the novel revives Natty Bumppo - who had died in "The Prairie" - and casts him, with his friend, the Mohican chief Chingachgook, among Tuscarora and Iroquois Indians, and into conflicts over land and love. Natty's courtship of Mabel Denham aligns Cooper's interest in American history with his concern for social development. An account of Europeans, Indians and colonials on the American frontier, the novel is also a critique of Jacksonian democracy and a meditation on the course of American civilization. Together with "The Deerslayer" (1841), this novel summarizes Cooper's evolving view of his culture. The text of this edition is that established by Richard Dilworth Rust, and this annotated volume includes both a critical introduction and an historical essay by Marybeth McMahon which places the novel in the context of the French and Indian War.

"Excellent edition for class use, what with both of Cooper's prefaces and the series in general. AND an essay to provide historical context, a chronology, a bibliography--and still more. This should be the edition of choice for the classroom."--Cameron C. Nnickels, James Madison University"Clearly and carefully edited, this volume is a very useful addition to your excellent series."--E.N. Feltskog, University of Wisconsin