James Fenimore Cooper 
The Bravo (Barnes & Noble Digital Library) 

Published in 1831, this novel is set in Venice in the bygone days of the Doges.  It was inspired by Cooper’s travels in Italy.  ‘The author has intended to give his countrymen, ‘ writes Cooper in his preface, ‘a picture of the social system of the
soi-distant republics of the other hemisphere.’ Cooper aims to show, William Cullen Bryant said, that all systems which reserve power for the strong, inherently oppress the weak.

About the author

James Fenimore Cooper (1789–1851) is best known for his masterpiece The Last of the Mohicans. A prolific and popular American writer, Cooper wrote fiction, non-fiction, and even tried his hand at the supernatural. He wrote many stories about the sea as well as the historical novels of his series Leatherstocking Tales.