The Pioneers is set in a new settlement on New York’s Lake Otsego in the closing years of the eighteenth century. Cooper describes the life of the early American settlers; the turkey shoot at Christmas, the tapping of maple trees, fishing for bass in the evening, the marshalling of the militia. Cooper also uses the novel to explore the tension between nature and civilization, as woodsman ‘Natty Bumppo’ comes into conflict with other settlers over issues such as conservation and Indian rights. While they see the vast, unexplored wilderness as something to be tamed and conquered, Natty has a vision of civilized life coexisting with nature.   James Fenimore Cooper (1789 – 1851) was an American author who wrote historical romances depicting frontier and Native American life; his best-known novel is The Last of the Mohicans (1826). Published by George Routledge + Sons Ltd, 1900 The book is illustrated by the American illustrator Felix Octavius Carr Darley (1822 – 1888).  Ex-Library book. With frontispiece  - the shooting of a buck. Good condition. Cover boards very slightly warped. Binding intact Although The Pioneers is a classic and is still in print, there is a sense of history in holding this book in one's hands. The book was printed by William Clowes in London. "The development of powered presses by Clowes is credited with increasing levels of accuracy as well as the speed of output."