Other editions of book The Spy

As published by A.L. Burt Co., New York. No date. Sized 8x5 inches, bound in red ribbed cloth, bright gilt titles. Great condition. 427 pages. Back inside hinge is loose. Some writing on back flyleaf. Previous owner’s name and address stamped in front flyleaf. Pages are clean. No DJ. Cover is like new! “The Spy: a Tale of the Neutral Ground” was James Fenimore Cooper's second novel, published in 1821. This was the first American novel to win wide and permanent fame.

The Spy: a Tale of the Neutral Ground was James Fenimore Cooper's second novel, published in 1821. This was the earliest United States novel to win wide and permanent fame and may be said to have begun the type of romance which dominated U.S. fiction for 30 years. The action takes place during the American Revolution. The share of historical fact in the story is not large, but the action takes place so near to great events that the characters are all invested with something of the dusky light of heroes, while George Washington moves among them like an unsuspected god. A must-read for anyone interested in the history of American literature.

The Spy is a historical novel that was written by James Fenimore Cooper. The book is set during the American Revolution and centers around the life and adventures of Harvey Birch, a character that is based off a real spy who had helped John Jay. The book was published in 1821 and is one of the earliest American novels to gain wide popularity. James Fenimore Cooper was one of the most popular American authors in the early 19th century. Cooper wrote many historical romances that depicted frontier and Indian life. Cooper also served in the U.S. Navy and many of his books were based off his experiences. Cooper's most famous books are the five novels that form The Leatherstocking Tales, especially The Last of the Mohicans which is considered to be his masterpiece.

This premium quality edition includes the complete text of James Fenimore Cooper's classic tale of the conflicts and complications brought by divided loyalties during the American Revolution in a freshly edited and newly typeset edition. With a large 7.44"x9.69" page size, this Summit Classic edition is printed on hefty bright white paper with a fully laminated cover featuring an original full color design. Page headers and proper placement of footnotes exemplify the attention to detail given this volume. With the publication of "The Spy" in 1821, James Fenimore Cooper became an international figure and the first authentic American novelist, free of the forms and conventions of the British fiction of the day. In a writing career spanning thirty years, over thirty novels and an extensive body of lesser works, with "The Leatherstocking Tales" he became the first great interpreter of the American experience, chronicling the adventures of the indomitable Natty Bumppo, known variously as "Hawkeye," "Deerslayer," "Pathfinder," "Leatherstocking" and other names, from the colonial Indian wars through the early expansion into the vast western plains. Cooper wrote "The Spy" to preserve the memory and meaning of the American Revolution and in response to allegations of venality on the part of the men who captured Benedict Arnold's co-conspirator, Major John Andre. The novel centers on Harvey Birch, a man wrongly suspected of being a spy for the British. Only General George Washington knows who Birch really is. "The Spy" is Cooper's first great historical novel, and, indeed the first and original "Great American Novel". But it also serves as a parable of the American experience and a timeless reminder that a society's survival depends on judging people by their actions, not their class or reputations. Set in upstate New York on a comfortable estate, the Wharton family suddenly finds that the Revolutionary War has arrived in their parlor. Like many families during the Revolution, the Whartons ultimately face the need to decide where they stand as a complicated set of relationships among family members with both Patriot and Loyalist sentiments begin to unravel with a secret visit from Wharton’s son, Henry, a British officer who has crossed behind American lines in disguise. American troops arrive unexpectedly, Henry is discovered and arrested as a spy, and held in the custody of Major Dunwoodie,who is Henry’s sister’s fiancé and Henry’s own childhood friend. The real spy, of course, is still on the loose. A tale of love and intrigue in a time of war, "The Spy" vividly recreates the divided loyalties and patriotic fervor on both sides of the American Revolution, and the sacrifices people must sometimes make for their beliefs and the people they care most about.

Written in 1821, The Spy was intended to preserve both the memory and the meaning of the American Revolution. Inspired by accusations of venality leveled at the men who captured Major Andre (Benedict Arnold's co-conspirator who was executed for espionage in 1780), the novel centers on Harry Birch, a common man wrongly suspected by the Patriots of being a spy for the British.

It was near the close of the year 1780 that a solitary traveler was seen pursuing his way through one of the numerous little valleys of Westchester. The easterly wind, with its chilling dampness and increasing violence, gave unerring notice of the approach of a storm, which, as usual, might be expected to continue for several days; and the experienced eye of the traveler was turned in vain, through the darkness of the evening, in quest of some convenient shelter, in which, for the term of his confinement by the rain that already began to mix with the atmosphere in a thick mist, he might obtain such accommodations as his purposes required. Nothing whatever offered but the small and inconvenient tenements of the lower order of the inhabitants, with whom, in that immediate neighborhood, he did not think it either safe or politic to trust himself.

James Fenimore Cooper wrote The Spy in 1821 intending the novel to preserve both the memory and the meaning of the American Revolution. Inspired by accusations of venality leveled at the men who captured Major Andre (Benedict Arnold's co-conspirator executed for espionage in 1780), the novel centers on Harry Birch, a common man wrongly suspected by well-born Patriots of being a spy for the British. Even Washington, who supports Birch, misreads the man, and when Washington offers him payment for information vital to the Patriots' cause, Birch scorns the money and asserts that his actions were motivated not by financial reward, but by his devotion to the fight for independence. A historical adventure tale reminiscent of Sir Walter Scott's Waverley novels, The Spy is also a parable of the American experience, a reminder that the nation's survival, like its Revolution, depends on judging people by their actions, not their class or reputations.