The last of the Leatherstocking Tales to be written, and Cooper's own favorite, The Deerslayer turns back to the entrance into manhood of Natty Bumppo, the hero of these classic frontier sagas. An idealistic youth who was raised among the Indians, his daring and resourcefulness are evident—but the Deerslayer has yet to meet the test of human conflict. In a tale of violent action and superbly sustained suspense, the harsh realities of tribal warfare force him to kill his first foe, and face torture at the stake. Still yet another kind of initiation awaits him, when he discovers not only the ruthlessness of "civilized" men, but also the special danger of a woman's will. His youthful spirit transformed into mature courage and moral certainty, the future Leatherstocking emerges to face life with a nobility as pure and proud as the wilderness whose fierce beauty and freedom have claimed his heart.
Historian Allan Nevins writes "It is a rich and intensely exciting . . . story of an America now so far lost in time and change that it is hard to believe it ever existed. But it did exist, and some memory of it, in our all too artificial day, ought to be cherished by the nation." And Van Wyck Brooks commented "Natty Bumppo was destined to remain the symbol of a moment of civilization, the dawn of the new American soul . . . "
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