Walden and Civil Disobedience (Barnes & Noble Classics)

In 1845 philosopher and naturalist Henry David Thoreau built a small cabin on the shore of Walden Pond, in Massachusetts. For the next two years he lived there as simply as possible, seeking "the essential facts of life" and learning to eliminate the unnecessary details - material and spiritual - that intrude upon human happiness. He described his experienced in "Walden", first published in 1854, using vivid, forceful prose that transforms his observations of nature into richly evocative metaphors for human life. This volume also includes Thoreau's widely influential essay "Civil Disobedience," a treatise which outlines the incumbency of citizens to rebel against governments that do not uphold their ideals.