Books : Walden Pond: A History
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by: W. Barksdale Maynard
List Price: $19.95Amazon.com's Price: $17.95 You Save: $2.00 (10%)Prices subject to change. Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 974.44
EAN: 9780195181371
ISBN: 0195181379
Label: Oxford University Press, USA
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 416
Publication Date: March 17, 2005
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Sales Rank: 651978
Studio: Oxford University Press, USA
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Editorial Review:
Product Description:
Perhaps no other natural setting has as much literary, spiritual, and environmental significance for Americans as Walden Pond. Some 700,000 people visit the pond annually, and countless others journey to Walden in their mind, to contemplate the man who lived there and what the place means to us today.
Here is the first history of the Massachusetts pond Thoreau made famous 150 years ago. W. Barksdale Maynard offers a lively and comprehensive account of Walden Pond from the early nineteenth century to the present. From Thoreau's first visit at age 4 in 1821--'That woodland vision for a long time made the drapery of my dreams'--to today's efforts both to conserve the pond and allow public access, Maynard captures Walden Pond's history and the role it has played in social, cultural, literary, and environmental movements in America. Along the way Maynard details the geography of the pond; Thoreau's and Emerson's experiences of Walden over their lifetimes; the development of the cult of Thoreau and the growth of the pond as a site of literary and spiritual pilgrimages; rock star Don Henley's Walden Woods Project and the much publicized battle to protect the pond from developers in the 1980s; and the vitally important ecological symbol Walden Pond has become today.
Exhaustively researched, vividly written, and illustrated with historical photographs and the most detailed maps of Thoreau country yet created, Walden Pond: A History reveals how an ordinary pond has come to be such an extraordinarily inspiring symbol.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - A lively account of the pond from early to modern times
Some 700,000 people visit Walden Pond annually and others journey to Walden mentally in contemplating of the region Henry David Thoreau made famous. It's surprising, therefore, to note that this is the first history of Walden Pond to appear in over 150 years, providing a lively account of the pond from early to modern times. W. Barksdale Maynard teaches architectural history at Johns Hopkins University and one might anticipate from this a dry perspective: not so. Walden Pond captures the social, ... Read More
Rating: - A fascinating history of Walden Pond
For years to come, historians and literary scholars will know this book as the definitive history of Walden Pond. But it's also a delightful read. Combining impeccable scholarship with skillful writing, Maynard brings Walden Pond's storied history to life, from Thoreau's first visit as a little boy to today's preservation battles. "Walden Pond: A History" is a brilliant book.
Rating: - AN AMAZING BOOK
Walden Pond: A History has received positive reviews during its first month of release. Kirkus gave it a coveted ?star.? Also, the ecologist Ed Schofield has written the following five-star review on a national bookstore website: ?AN AMAZING BOOK. I know a good deal about Walden Pond and Walden Woods as a result of many years of personal research. I never thought that anyone would be able to bring together, between the covers of one book, the astonishing amount of information Barksdale Maynard ... Read More
Rating: - Should be titled "THE "History of Walden Pond
This is a book that has been over 200 years in the making.
Maynard has done a fabulous job of combining history,environmentalism, science, popular culture and "gossipy stories" in order to paint a highly interesting and balanced history of Walden Pond, before, during and after Henry Thoreau's famous sojourn there.
Thoreauvians will find lots to admire in this book. Maynard has obviously done his research on Thoreau and his times.In particular I was amused by the amazement of some Concordians,in ... Read More
Rating: - excellent history
Walden Pond by W. Barksdale Maynard is an excellent history, thoroughly researched and written in the best prose style.
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