Walden and Civil Disobedience

Sometimes wisdom comes from quiet communion with nature. Other times, a night in the pokey proves a more potent teacher. In this volume, the writings of transcendentalist and naturalist Henry David Thoreau draw from both wellsprings. Walden—his account of life in a hand-built cabin by a pond in the woods—has earned legions of devotees since its publication in 1854. Civil Disobedience—written after the author was briefly jailed for refusing to pay taxes in protest over government policies he abhorred— stoked the fires of righteousness in Tolstoy, Gandhi and the American civil rights movement. Together, these works will entrance and inspire, calm and catalyze in equal measure.Leatherette cover; 272 pages.