The Last of the Mohicans Mohicans" has been James Fenimore Cooper's most popular work. It has continued as one of the most widely read novels throughout the world, and it has influenced popular opinion about American Indians and the frontier period of eastern American history. The romanticized images of the strong, fearless, and ever resourceful frontiersman (i.e., Natty Bumppo), as well as the stoic, wise, and noble "red man" (i.e., Chingachgook) were notions derived from Cooper's characterizations more than from anywhere else. The phrase, "the last of the Mohicans", has come to represent the sole survivor of a noble race or type. In the "M*A*S*H"
The Last of the Mohicans essay, Twain re-writes a small section of "The Last of the Mohicans", claiming that Cooper, "the generous spendthrift", used 100 "extra and unnecessary words" in the original version. Re-reading the book in his later years, Cooper noted some inconsistencies of plot and characterization, particularly the character of Munro. But, he wrote that in general, "the book must needs have some interest for the reader, since it could amuse even the writer, who had in a great measure forgotten the details of his own work." The book has been considered to be the first Great American Novel. "The Last of the