A TALE OF THE NEUTRAL GROUND
The second of Cooper’s novels appeared in 1821. It established the historical American setting characteristic of his better-known writing and was an immediate popular success. Inspired by the ‘Waverley’ novels, The Spy commences a body of work that achieved for recent American history what Sir Walter Scott’s novels had accomplished for the history of Scotland and England – dramatising central dilemmas facing characters that find themselves caught up in the momentous events that have helped to shape the national story. Thus, while Scott is credited with the invention of the historical novel, The Spy is often cited as one of the founding texts of American literature.
Set mainly in 1780 at the height of the American Revolution, the story centres on the activities of the American spy Harvey Birch, whose forays into the ‘neutral ground’ of Westchester County, New York, see him caught up in the confused allegiances of the Wharton family. Although honoured by George Washington himself, the fact that Birch’s brave and patriotic actions are too politically sensitive to be widely revealed is offered as proof of his noble and selfless devotion to the revolutionary cause. This is despite the fact that his pretence of being a British spy makes him a traitor in the eyes of his countrymen.