Henry David Thoreau Popular Books

Henry David Thoreau Biography & Facts

Henry David Thoreau (July 12, 1817 – May 6, 1862) was an American naturalist, essayist, poet, and philosopher. A leading transcendentalist, he is best known for his book Walden, a reflection upon simple living in natural surroundings, and his essay "Civil Disobedience" (originally published as "Resistance to Civil Government"), an argument in favor of citizen disobedience against an unjust state. Thoreau's books, articles, essays, journals, and poetry amount to more than 20 volumes. Among his lasting contributions are his writings on natural history and philosophy, in which he anticipated the methods and findings of ecology and environmental history, two sources of modern-day environmentalism. His literary style interweaves close observation of nature, personal experience, pointed rhetoric, symbolic meanings, and historical lore, while displaying a poetic sensibility, philosophical austerity, and attention to practical detail. He was also deeply interested in the idea of survival in the face of hostile elements, historical change, and natural decay; at the same time he advocated abandoning waste and illusion in order to discover life's true essential needs.Thoreau was a lifelong abolitionist, delivering lectures that attacked the fugitive slave law while praising the writings of Wendell Phillips and defending the abolitionist John Brown. Thoreau's philosophy of civil disobedience later influenced the political thoughts and actions of notable figures such as Leo Tolstoy, Mahatma Gandhi, and Martin Luther King Jr.Thoreau is sometimes referred to as an anarchist. In "Civil Disobedience", Thoreau wrote: "I heartily accept the motto,—'That government is best which governs least;' and I should like to see it acted up to more rapidly and systematically. Carried out, it finally amounts to this, which also I believe,—'That government is best which governs not at all;' and when men are prepared for it, that will be the kind of government which they will have.... But, to speak practically and as a citizen, unlike those who call themselves no-government men, I ask for, not at once no government, but at once a better government." Pronunciation of his name Amos Bronson Alcott and Thoreau's aunt each wrote that "Thoreau" is pronounced like the word thorough ( THURR-oh—in General American, but more precisely THOR-oh—in 19th-century New England). Edward Waldo Emerson wrote that the name should be pronounced "Thó-row", with the h sounded and stress on the first syllable. Among modern-day American English speakers, it is perhaps more commonly pronounced thə-ROH—with stress on the second syllable. Physical appearance Thoreau had a distinctive appearance, with a nose that he called his "most prominent feature". Of his appearance and disposition, Ellery Channing wrote: His face, once seen, could not be forgotten. The features were quite marked: the nose aquiline or very Roman, like one of the portraits of Caesar (more like a beak, as was said); large overhanging brows above the deepest set blue eyes that could be seen, in certain lights, and in others gray,—eyes expressive of all shades of feeling, but never weak or near-sighted; the forehead not unusually broad or high, full of concentrated energy and purpose; the mouth with prominent lips, pursed up with meaning and thought when silent, and giving out when open with the most varied and unusual instructive sayings. Life Early life and education, 1817–1837 Henry David Thoreau was born David Henry Thoreau in Concord, Massachusetts, into the "modest New England family" of John Thoreau, a pencil maker, and Cynthia Dunbar. His father was of French Protestant descent. His paternal grandfather had been born on the UK crown dependency island of Jersey. His maternal grandfather, Asa Dunbar, led Harvard's 1766 student "Butter Rebellion", the first recorded student protest in the American colonies. David Henry was named after his recently deceased paternal uncle, David Thoreau. He began to call himself Henry David after he finished college; he never petitioned to make a legal name change.He had two older siblings, Helen and John Jr., and a younger sister, Sophia Thoreau. None of the children married. Helen (1812–1849) died at age 37, from tuberculosis. John Jr. (1814–1842) died at age 27, of tetanus after cutting himself while shaving. Henry David (1817–1862) died at age 44, of tuberculosis. Sophia (1819–1876) survived him by 14 years, dying at age 56, of tuberculosis.He studied at Harvard College between 1833 and 1837. He lived in Hollis Hall and took courses in rhetoric, classics, philosophy, mathematics, and science. He was a member of the Institute of 1770 (now the Hasty Pudding Club). According to legend, Thoreau refused to pay the five-dollar fee (approximately equivalent to $147 in 2022) for a Harvard master's diploma, which he described thus: Harvard College offered it to graduates "who proved their physical worth by being alive three years after graduating, and their saving, earning, or inheriting quality or condition by having Five Dollars to give the college". He commented, "Let every sheep keep its own skin", a reference to the tradition of using sheepskin vellum for diplomas. Thoreau's birthplace still exists on Virginia Road in Concord. The house has been restored by the Thoreau Farm Trust, a nonprofit organization, and is now open to the public. Return to Concord, 1837–1844 The traditional professions open to college graduates—law, the church, business, medicine—did not interest Thoreau,: 25  so in 1835 he took a leave of absence from Harvard, during which he taught at a school in Canton, Massachusetts, living for two years at an earlier version of today's Colonial Inn in Concord. His grandfather owned the earliest of the three buildings that were later combined. After he graduated in 1837, Thoreau joined the faculty of the Concord public school, but he resigned after a few weeks rather than administer corporal punishment.: 25  He and his brother John then opened the Concord Academy, a grammar school in Concord, in 1838.: 25  They introduced several progressive concepts, including nature walks and visits to local shops and businesses. The school closed when John became fatally ill from tetanus in 1842 after cutting himself while shaving. He died in Henry's arms.Upon graduation Thoreau returned home to Concord, where he met Ralph Waldo Emerson through a mutual friend. Emerson, who was 14 years his senior, took a paternal and at times patron-like interest in Thoreau, advising the young man and introducing him to a circle of local writers and thinkers, including Ellery Channing, Margaret Fuller, Bronson Alcott, and Nathaniel Hawthorne and his son Julian Hawthorne, who was a boy at the time. Emerson urged Thoreau to contribute essays and poems to a quarterly periodical, The Dial, and lobbied the editor, Margaret Fuller, to publish those writings. Thoreau's first essay published in The Dial was "Aulus Persius Flaccus", an essay on th.... Discover the Henry David Thoreau popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Henry David Thoreau books.

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  • Collection of American Poetry synopsis, comments

    Collection of American Poetry

    Various Authors

    Table of ContentsWilliam Cullen Bryant 17941878Stephen Crane 18711900Emily Dickinson 18301886T. S. Eliot 18881965Ralph Waldo Emerson 18031882Robert Frost 18741963Oliver Wendell Hol...

  • A Philosophy of Walking synopsis, comments

    A Philosophy of Walking

    Frédéric Gros, John Howe & Clifford Harper

    This “passionate affirmation of the simple life” explores how walking has influenced history’s greatest thinkersfrom Henry David Thoreau and John Muir to Gandhi and Nietzsche (Obse...

  • The Complete Henry David Thoreau synopsis, comments

    The Complete Henry David Thoreau

    Henry David Thoreau

    THE COMPLETE WORKS! Essays, Collections, Poetry, Translations, Letters, Journal and Biographical Sketch. The Ultimate Collection of Henry David Thoreau In One Beautifully Formatte...

  • The Greatest Essays of Henry David Thoreau - 26 Influential Titles in One Edition synopsis, comments

    The Greatest Essays of Henry David Thoreau - 26 Influential Titles in One Edition

    Henry David Thoreau

    Musaicum Books presents to you this carefully created volume of "The Greatest Essays of Henry David Thoreau 26 Influential Titles in One Edition". This ebook has been desi...

  • Walden and Other Writings synopsis, comments

    Walden and Other Writings

    Henry David Thoreau

    With their call for "simplicity, simplicity, simplicity!”, for selfhonesty, and for harmony with nature, the writings of Henry David Thoreau are perhaps the most influential phil...

  • The Hunt for History synopsis, comments

    The Hunt for History

    Nathan Raab

    Nathan Raab, America’s preeminent rare documents dealer, delivers a “diverting account of treasure hunting in the fast lane” (The Wall Street Journal) that recounts his years as th...

  • The Maine Woods synopsis, comments

    The Maine Woods

    Henry David Thoreau & Edward Hoagland

    "What a wilderness walk for a man to take alone!...Here was traveling of the old heroic kind over the unaltered face of nature." Henry David ThoreauOver a period of three years, Th...

  • 7 best short stories by D. H. Lawrence synopsis, comments

    7 best short stories by D. H. Lawrence

    D. H. Lawrence & August Nemo

    D.H. Lawrence is best known for his infamous novel 'Lady Chatterley's Lover,' which was banned in the United States until 1959. At the time of his death, his public rep...

  • Walden and Other Writings synopsis, comments

    Walden and Other Writings

    Henry David Thoreau

    Henry David Thoreau's vision of personal freedom is indelibly etched on the American consciousness. 'We need the tonic of wildness,' Thoreau wrote in Walden, and by turning his bac...

  • The Collected Works of Henry David Thoreau synopsis, comments

    The Collected Works of Henry David Thoreau

    Henry David Thoreau

    The Collected Works of Henry David Thoreau is a collection of classic works by one of the greatest writers in history. The included works of Henry David Thoreau are Walden, Civil D...

  • Works of Henry David Thoreau synopsis, comments

    Works of Henry David Thoreau

    Henry David Thoreau

    This collection was designed for optimal navigation on iPad and other electronic devices. It is indexed alphabetically, chronologically and by category, making it easier to access...

  • Essays of Henry David Thoreau - Walking synopsis, comments

    Essays of Henry David Thoreau - Walking

    Henry David Thoreau

    Thoreau challenges us will understand that man is part of nature, man being one of the most important aspects of its manifestation. Walking was originally submitted in one of h...

  • American Canopy synopsis, comments

    American Canopy

    Eric Rutkow

    This fascinating and groundbreaking work tells the remarkable story of the relationship between Americans and their trees across the entire span of our nation’s history. Like many ...

  • Expect Great Things synopsis, comments

    Expect Great Things

    Kevin Dann

    To coincide with the bicentennial of Thoreau's birth in 2017, this thrilling, meticulous biography by naturalist and historian Kevin Dann fills a gap in our understanding of one mo...

  • Stark Mad Abolitionists synopsis, comments

    Stark Mad Abolitionists

    Robert K. Sutton & Bob Dole

    A town at the center of the United States becomes the site of an ongoing struggle for freedom and equality.In May, 1854, Massachusetts was in an uproar. A judge, bound by the Fugit...

  • Rough Beauty synopsis, comments

    Rough Beauty

    Karen Auvinen

    In the bestselling tradition of Cheryl Strayed’s Wild and Helen MacDonald’s H Is for Hawk, Karen Auvinen, an awardwinning poet, ventures into the wilderness to seek answers to life...

  • The Journal of Henry David Thoreau, 1837-1861 synopsis, comments

    The Journal of Henry David Thoreau, 1837-1861

    Henry David Thoreau, Damion Searls & John R. Stilgoe

    The largest onevolume edition of Thoreau’s 25year journal, with “some of the most vigorous and original prose in English” and insights into the origins of Walden and other works (W...

  • Henry David Thoreau synopsis, comments

    Henry David Thoreau

    Laura Dassow Walls

    This acclaimed biography captures the inspiring life and philosophy of an influential American thinker: “a moving portrait of a brilliant, complex man” (The New York Times).Henry D...

  • Henry David Thoreau synopsis, comments

    Henry David Thoreau

    Marie Berthoumieu & Laura El Makki

    "Si je ne suis pas moi, qui le sera ?" Henry David Thoreau (18171862) est né et mort à Concord, un village du Massachusetts. Fils d’un modeste artisan, il poursuivit ses études à...

  • Quotable Thoreau synopsis, comments

    Quotable Thoreau

    Henry David Thoreau

    QUOTABLE THOREAU An A to Z Glossary of Inspiring Quotes from Henry David Thoreau author of Walden and 'Civil Disobedience' covering a wide variety of subjects from Advice to Zan...

  • Thoreau on Wolf Hill synopsis, comments

    Thoreau on Wolf Hill

    B. B. Oak

    Far from the tranquility of Walden Pond, Henry David Thoreau confronts the chilling reality of an epidemic. . .as well as coldblooded murder.The winter of 1847 has brought a consum...

  • Walden synopsis, comments

    Walden

    Henry David Thoreau & Bill McKibben

    First published in 1854, Henry David Thoreau's groundbreaking book has influenced generations of readers and continues to inspire and inform anyone with an open mind and a love of ...

  • Henry David Thoreau synopsis, comments

    Henry David Thoreau

    Lawrence Buell

    "When I wrote the following pages, or rather the bulk of them, I lived alone, in the woods, a mile from any neighbor, in a house which I had built myself, on the shore of Walden Po...

  • American Bloomsbury synopsis, comments

    American Bloomsbury

    Susan Cheever

    Even the most devoted readers of nineteenthcentury American literature often assume that the men and women behind the masterpieces were as dull and staid as the era's static daguer...

  • Walden by henry david thoreau synopsis, comments

    Walden by henry david thoreau

    Henry David Thoreau & AtoZ Classics

    Walden (also known as Life in the Woods) by Henry David Thoreau is one of the bestknown nonfiction books written by an American. Published in 1854, it details Thoreau's life fo...

  • Thoreau in Phantom Bog synopsis, comments

    Thoreau in Phantom Bog

    B. B. Oak

    Henry David Thoreau’s impassioned activism in the Underground Railroad leads him away from the banks of Walden Pond into a morass of murder…In the spring of 1848, Thoreau returns t...

  • The Great Work of Your Life synopsis, comments

    The Great Work of Your Life

    Stephen Cope

    An inspiring guide to finding your life’s purposewhat spiritual teachers call dharmathrough mindfulness and selfexploration.   Stephen Cope says that in order to have a ...

  • The Book That Changed America synopsis, comments

    The Book That Changed America

    Randall Fuller

    A compelling portrait of a unique moment in American history when the ideas of Charles Darwin reshaped American notions about nature, religion, science and race“A lively and inform...

  • 50 Classic Autobiographies synopsis, comments

    50 Classic Autobiographies

    Mark Twain & Charles Darwin

    An anthology of 50 classic autobiographies with an active table of contents to make it easy to quickly find the book you are looking for.The Americanization of Edward Bok by Edward...

  • The Portable Thoreau synopsis, comments

    The Portable Thoreau

    Henry David Thoreau & Jeffrey S. Cramer

    An updated edition of Thoreau's most widely read worksSelfdescribed as "a mystic, a transcendentalist, and a natural philosopher to boot," Henry David Thoreau dedicated his life to...

  • The Selected Essays of Henry David Thoreau synopsis, comments

    The Selected Essays of Henry David Thoreau

    Henry David Thoreau

    Collected here are nineteen essays by Henry David Thoreau. Thoreau was on of America's best known and most influential writers. His work has helped shape the American Discourse and...