The Spy

The Spy
A Tale of the Neutral Ground

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5
(1 Review)
The Spy by James Fenimore Cooper

Published:

1821

Pages:

824

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3,522

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The Spy
A Tale of the Neutral Ground

By

5
(1 Review)

Book Excerpt

ublished, it became matter of reproach among the author's friends, that he, an American in heart as in birth, should give to the world a work which aided perhaps, in some slight degree, to feed the imaginations of the young and unpracticed among his own countrymen, by pictures drawn from a state of society so different from that to which he belonged. The writer, while he knew how much of what he had done was purely accidental, felt the reproach to be one that, in a measure, was just. As the only atonement in his power, he determined to inflict a second book, whose subject should admit of no cavil, not only on the world, but on himself. He chose patriotism for his theme; and to those who read this introduction and the book itself, it is scarcely necessary to add, that he took the hero of the anecdote just related as the best illustration of his subject.

Since the original publication of The Spy, there have appeared several accounts of different persons who are supposed to have been in the autho

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One of James Fenimore Cooper's earliest novels, 'The Spy' combines action and intrigue in a splendidly described setting immediately north of British-held New York City.

During the American Revolution, many people lived in areas alternately controlled by Continental or British forces. Loyalties to one cause or the other divided households, but nobility (or corruption) was found in people wearing either uniform.

Cooper tells the story as he claimed to have heard it...from someone who heard it firsthand. His craft is evident.