Walden (AmazonClassics Edition) - Softcover

At Walden Pond, Henry David Thoreau reflected on simpler living in the natural world. By removing himself from the distractions of materialism, Thoreau hoped to not only improve his spiritual life but also gain a better understanding of society through solitary introspection.

In Walden, Thoreau condenses his two-year, two-month, two-day stay into a single year, using the four seasons to symbolize human development—a cycle of life shared by both nature and man. A celebration of personal renewal through self-reliance, independence, and simplicity, composed for all of us living in “quiet desperation,” Walden is eternal.

Revised edition: Previously published as Walden, this edition of Walden (AmazonClassics Edition) includes editorial revisions.

Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862) was an American writer, philosopher, and naturalist who is best known for the works Walden and “Civil Disobedience.” Thoreau was a protégé of transcendentalist writer Ralph Waldo Emerson, whose friendship and guidance had a lasting effect on Thoreau’s work. In addition to his support of outdoor recreation and conservation, Thoreau made lasting political contributions as a lifelong abolitionist and through his philosophy of civil disobedience, which would serve as a foundation for leaders such as Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. Thoreau died at the age of forty-four, a result of much-weakened health after years of complications from tuberculosis. His writings, comprising more than twenty volumes, have been credited with influencing not only a multitude of writers, such as novelist Willa Cather and naturalist John Muir, but also the civil rights movement and the creation of the national park system.