The Spy by James Fenimore Cooper, Fiction, Classics, Historical, Action & Adventure

by James Fenimore Cooper, Nathaniel Waring Barnes (Editor)

Overview

Harry Birsch is thought to be a loyalist living in the American colonies, but when George Washington offers him money in exchange for sensitive information about the British, Harry scoffs at the idea. He exchanges the information not for the monetary gains, but what he can do for America. And so he begins a journey in which he spies for the Americans in an attempt to win the war. In doing so, he must masquerade as a traitor. The real truth is the secret that can never be revealed lest the reputation of all he holds dear will fall.

James Fenimore Cooper is best known for his "leather stocking" novels concerning American Indian life and the frontier. His most famous novel is Last of the Mohicans. The Spy is the first novel with espionage as the main theme and is the novel that garnered him much fame.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781603128438
Publisher:	Aegypan
Publication date:	03/01/2007
Pages:	348
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.94(d)

About the Author

James Fenimore Cooper (1789 - 1851) was a prolific and popular American writer of the early 19th century. His historical romances of frontier and Indian life in the early American days created a unique form of American literature. He lived most of his life in Cooperstown, New York, which was founded by his father William on property that he owned. Cooper was a lifelong member of the Episcopal Church and, in his later years, contributed generously to it. Before embarking on his career as a writer, he served in the U.S. Navy as a midshipman, which greatly influenced many of his novels and other writings. The novel that launched his career was The Spy, a tale about counterespionage set during the Revolutionary War and published in 1821. He also wrote numerous sea stories and his best-known works are five historical novels of the frontier period known as the Leatherstocking Tales. Among naval historians, Cooper's works on the early U.S. Navy have been well received, but they were sometimes criticized by his contemporaries. Among his most famous works is the Romantic novel The Last of the Mohicans, often regarded as his masterpiece.

Date of Birth:

September 15, 1789

Date of Death:

September 14, 1851

Place of Birth:

Burlington, New Jersey

Place of Death:

Cooperstown, New York

Education:

Yale University (expelled in 1805)

Table of Contents

	Acknowledgments	ix
	Historical Introduction	xiii
	To James Aitchison [1821]	1
	Preface [1821]	2
	Preface to the Second Edition [1822]	6
	To James Aitchison [1822]	8
	Preface to the Third Edition [1822]	9
	Introduction [1831]	12
	Introduction [1849]	17
	The Spy	22
	Explanatory Notes	425
	Textual Commentary	435
	Textual Notes	458
	Emendations	460
	Rejected Readings	546
	Word-Division	550

Editorial Reviews

Written in 1821, this historical novel is Cooper's paean to the Revolutionary War, as protagonist Harry Birch finds himself wrongly accused of selling vital information to the British. The book incorporates several real characters, including George Washington.

Library Journal