I'm not totally thrilled by the order of the books, but the order is the date they were originally published, & there's not much to do about that! I guess a good way of looking at it, is the first is something that happens today, the second is what happened earlier in his life, & the last is what happens later in his life to his death. The two stories in the next volume have to fit in here somehow!

One of my thought while I was reading was, "how will people today be able to relate to this? There are so many Biblical references! & the French!" When I got finished reading the books, I read thru the back which not only includes a history of James Cooper's life & publications, but also notes that give explain the references & interpret the French! (However, some still assume a Biblical understanding like "Obed was the father of Jess, who was the father of David, One of David's sons was Absalom, another was Solomon, who was the grandfather of Asa." I will definitely be using this when I read the second volume! ( )

I love the Leatherstocking Tales! Therefore my objectivity is lacking.
I read this volume some 30 years ago (1970's).
This was an excellent book (i.e., a 5 on a 5 point scale), which is much more than I expect when I buy a book.
I have curently misplaced this book.
This contains three of the books about Natty Bumpo, the other two are in Volume II. 'Readers who which to follow the chronological order of (his) career should read The Leatherstocking Tales in the following sequence: The Deerslayer, The Last of the Mohicans, The Pathfinder, The Pioneers, and The Prairie' (from the note in the table of contents).
The series of books are early westerns (i.e., western New York) from the French and Indians War to the early 1800's.
He is a competent writer with a good vocabulary. His plot and character developments are good.

Positives:
This is a Library of America book.

Negatives:
I am too biased to be objective. ( )

"The pioners, or the sources of the susquehanna; a decriptive tale", "The last of the mohicans; a narrative of 1757", "The prairie; a tale"