James Fenimore Cooper was a prolific and popular American writer of the first half of the 19th century. His historical romances of frontier and Indian life in the early American days created a unique form of American literature. The Crater; or, Vulcan's Peak: a Tale of the Pacific is a novel in which Cooper incorporated knowledge of ship construction he had acquired while working as a midshipman. From merely surviving the loss of his shipmates and the embayment of his ship within The Reef, protagonist Mark Woolston goes on to thrive by his own industry. Following a regional volcanic upheaval which raises new land, he founds a similarly industrious and thriving colony after escaping from, then returning to, The Reef. The outnumbered colonists must defend their new homes and possessions against natives who covet the new land.
James Fenimore Cooper was a prolific and popular American writer of the first half of the 19th century. His historical romances of frontier and Indian life in the early American days created a unique form of American literature. The Crater; or, Vulcan's Peak: a Tale of the Pacific is a novel in which Cooper incorporated knowledge of ship construction he had acquired while working as a midshipman. From merely surviving the loss of his shipmates and the embayment of his ship within The Reef, protagonist Mark Woolston goes on to thrive by his own industry. Following a regional volcanic upheaval which raises new land, he founds a similarly industrious and thriving colony after escaping from, then returning to, The Reef. The outnumbered colonists must defend their new homes and possessions against natives who covet the new land.
