Set during the French and Indian Wars, The Deerslayer vividly captures the essence of both the murderous humanity and the natural beauty that distinguished Americas founding. The last of Coopers famous Leatherstocking Tales, it is first chronologically in the frontier adventures of the backwoods scout Natty Bumppo. Amid a terrain largely inspired by Coopers own boyhood, Nattys initiation in the moral codes of wilderness society is examined in what is, according to D. H. Lawrence, the loveliest and best of the Leatherstocking series.This Modern Library Paperback Classic is set from the definitive text established by James Franklin Beard and James P. Elliott, which is the Approved Text of the Center for Scholarly Editions of the Modern Language Association.