Famed for his novels of the American frontier (notably the "Leatherstocking Tales") and of the sea, and also the author of a large body of social and political writings, James Fenimore Cooper (1789-1851) received mixed reviews from his contemporaries, who generally enjoyed the adventure tales but abhored his social preachings. His posthumous reputation has fluctuated widely. Savagely trashed by, among others, Mark Twain in 1895 for his literary offenses, Cooper was resurrected in 1931 by critic Robert E. Spiller, who viewed him as a profound social critic. By the mid-twentieth century,...