Book Review: The Last of the Mohicans

By Masami Koguchi

The title is The Last of the Mohicans. The Mohicans means one of the Indian tribes. This book was written by James Fenimore Cooper. It was made into a movie. It is one of the famous American pieces of literature.

This story took place at Lake Horican on the Hudson River (the author gave this name to Lake George). It is in the east of North America. Today, the area is called New York state. At the time of this story, North America was not independent. North America became independent from Europe in 1787.

This story’s time is 1757. Armies from England and France are fighting in North America. Both countries want the land. The Indian people had lived in the land for thousands of years. They got their food from the land. They hunted deer, bears, and birds in the forests. They ate the meat from these animals and made clothes from animals' skin. In 1607, English people came to North America. The next year, French people came. They took the soft animals’ skins to Europe.

Soon more and more Europeans came. They wanted the Indians’ land. The kings of France and England sent soldiers to North America. The soldiers built strong forts to live in. The soldiers brought guns. The Indians fought for the armies from England and France.

In this story, the Hurons are one of the Indian tribes that are fighting for the French. The Nohawks are fighting for England. This is a story of two daughters of the English and several Indian men. Chingachgook and Uncas were the Mohicans, but Uncas was finally killed by Mugua. He is also Indian, but he snatched the English sisters. Uncas was killed by Mugua to protect her. Her name is Cora. Then, Cora killed herself. Finally, Chingachgook became the last of the Mohicans.

I recommend this book because I could read it easily and it uses clear grammar and vocabulary. I could learn the history of North America. So I want to watch this movie.