Walden, or Life in the Woods and On the Duty of Civil Disobedience

Afterword copyright 1960. A sturdy individualist and a lover of nature, Henry David Thoreau was typical of his time and place -- an epitome of the Yankee spirit. In March, 1845, he set out to live life in a new way. Borrowing an ax, he built himself a wooden hut on the edge of Walden Pond, near Concord, Massachusetts, where he lived until September 1847. Walden is a record of that experiment in simple living. In this fascinating work Thoreau describes his Robinson Crusoe existence, bare of creature comforts but rich in contemplation of the wonders of nature and the ways of man. On the Duty of Civil Disobedience is Thoreau's classic protest against government's interference with individual liberty. One of the most famous essays ever written, it came to the attention of Gandhi and formed the basis for his passive resistance movement.