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1Walden

By Henry David Thoreau

Walden by Henry David Thoreau is one of the best-known non-fiction books written by an American. Published in 1854, it details Thoreau’s life for two years, two months, and two days around the shores of Walden Pond. Walden is neither a novel nor a true autobiography, but a social critique of the Western World, with each chapter heralding some aspect of humanity that needed to be either renounced or praised. Along with his critique of the civilized world, Thoreau examines other issues afflicting man in society, ranging from economy and reading to solitude and higher laws. He also takes time to talk about the experience at Walden Pond itself, commenting on the animals and the way people treated him for living there, using those experiences to bring out his philosophical positions. This extended commentary on nature has often been interpreted as a strong statement to the natural religion that transcendentalists like Thoreau and Emerson were preaching. (Description amended from Wikipedia).

2On the Duty of Civil Disobedience

By Henry David Thoreau

Civil Disobedience is an essay by Henry David Thoreau. Published in 1849 under the title Resistance to Civil Government, it expressed Thoreau’s belief that people should not allow governments to overrule or atrophy their consciences, and that people have a duty both to avoid doing injustice directly and to avoid allowing their acquiescence to enable the government to make them the agents of injustice. Thoreau was motivated in part by his disgust with slavery and the Mexican-American War. (Summary from Wikipedia).

LibriVox volunteers bring you 11 different recordings of the Fisher’s Boy by Henry David Thoreau. This was the weekly poetry project for the week of May 13th, 2007.

4Walking

By Henry David Thoreau

This was originally a lecture given by Thoreau in 1851 at the Concord lyceum titled "The Wild" . He revised it before his death and it was included as part of the June 1862 edition of Atlantic Monthly. This essay appears, on the surface, to be simply expounding the qualities of Nature and man's place therein. Through this medium he not only touches those subjects, but with the implications of such a respect for nature, or lack thereof. (Summary by Chris Masterson)

5On the Duty of Civil Disobedience (Version 2)

By Henry David Thoreau

Civil Disobedience (Resistance to Civil Government) is an essay by American transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau that was first published in 1849. In it, Thoreau argues that individuals should not permit governments to overrule or atrophy their consciences, and that they have a duty to avoid allowing such acquiescence to enable the government to make them the agents of injustice. Thoreau was motivated in part by his disgust with slavery and the Mexican–American War. (Summary by Wikipedia)

6Maine Woods

By Henry David Thoreau

On August 31, 1846, twenty-nine-year-old Henry David Thoreau left his cabin on Walden Pond to undertake a railroad and steamboat journey to Bangor, Maine, from where he would venture with his Penobscot guide Joe Polis deep into the backwoods of Maine. This account of his expedition, some think, is a profounder exploration of the philosophical themes of the more famous "Walden" than is the latter book, at least revealing his fundamental perspectives in embryonic form. Of particular interest is his sympathetic and penetrating observation of the Indian nations of Maine, especially the Penobscot and Passamaquoddy. - Summary by Expatriate

7Walden, Version 2

By Henry David Thoreau

Walden (first published as Walden; or, Life in the Woods) is an American book written by noted transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau, a reflection upon simple living in natural surroundings. The work is part personal declaration of independence, social experiment, voyage of spiritual discovery, satire, and manual for self-reliance. First published in 1854, it details Thoreau's experiences over the course of two years, two months, and two days in a cabin he built near Walden Pond, amidst woodland owned by his friend and mentor Ralph Waldo Emerson, near Concord, Massachusetts. The book compresses the time into a single calendar year and uses passages of four seasons to symbolize human development. - Summary by Wikipedia

8On the Duty of Civil Disobedience (Version 3)

By Henry David Thoreau

"That government is best which governs least" is the famous opening line of this essay. The slavery crisis inflamed New England in the 1840s and 1850s. The environment became especially tense after the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. A lifelong abolitionist, Thoreau delivered an impassioned speech which would later become Civil Disobedience in 1848, just months after leaving Walden Pond. The speech dealt with slavery, but at the same time excoriated American imperialism, particularly the Mexican–American War. Thoreau asserts that because governments are typically more harmful than helpful, they therefore cannot be justified. Democracy is no cure for this, as majorities simply by virtue of being majorities do not also gain the virtues of wisdom and justice. The judgment of an individual's conscience is not necessarily inferior to the decisions of a political body or majority, and so "[i]t is not desirable to cultivate a respect for the law, so much as for the right. The only obligation which I have a right to assume is to do at any time what I think right.... Law never made men a whit more just; and, by means of their respect for it, even the well-disposed are daily made the agents of injustice." He adds, "I cannot for an instant recognize as my government [that] which is the slave's government also." from Wikipedia

9Canoeing in the Wilderness

By Henry David Thoreau

A highly descriptive and engaging narrative from one of America's beloved nature writers, this short piece shows well Thoreau's great love of the early American wilderness. Be transported to the deep woods of Maine and share in both Thoreau's delight in nature and also his admiration of those others who have a deeper connection with the natural world around them. (Summary by Falassewen)

10Poems of Nature

By Henry David Thoreau

The fifty poems here brought together under the title ‘Poems of Nature’ are perhaps two-thirds of those which Thoreau preserved. Many of them were printed by him, in whole or in part, among his early contributions to Emerson’s Dial, or in his own two volumes, The Week and Walden, which were all that were issued in his lifetime. Others were given to Mr. Sanborn for publication, by Sophia Thoreau, the year after her brother’s death (several appeared in the Boston Commonwealth in 1863); or have been furnished from time to time by Mr. Blake, his literary executor. <br><br> Most of Thoreau’s poems were composed early in his life, before his twenty-sixth year, - Summary by from Introduction, Henry S. Salt and Frank B. Sanborn,

11Cape Cod

By Henry David Thoreau

Cape Cod is one of several excursion books by Henry David Thoreau. The travel itinerary frames his thoughts about geography, natural and local history, and philosophy. (Summary from Wikipedia)

An essay in three parts written in July 1840. "Human life is his topic, and he views it with an Oriental scope of thought, in which distinctions of Time and Space are lost in the wide prospect of Eternity and Immortality." (from the Introductory Note by F. B. Sanborn) - Summary by Fritz

13Walking (Version 2)

By Henry David Thoreau

This was originally titled "The Wild" and is a lecture given by Thoreau in 1851 at the Concord lyceum. "Walking" is an essay that explores the relationship between man and nature, trying to find a balance between society and our raw animal nature.

14Walden oder Leben in den Wäldern

By Henry David Thoreau

In Walden beschreibt Thoreau sein Leben in einer Blockhütte, die er sich 1845 in den Wäldern von Concord (Massachusetts) am See Walden Pond auf einem Grundstück seines Freundes Ralph Waldo Emerson baute, um dort für mehr als zwei Jahre der industrialisierten Massengesellschaft der jungen USA den Rücken zu kehren. Nach eigener Aussage ging es ihm dabei jedoch nicht um eine naive Weltflucht, sondern um den Versuch, einen alternativen und ausgewogenen Lebensstil zu verwirklichen.<br> Das 1854 veröffentlichte Buch kann nicht als Roman im eigentlichen Sinne angesehen werden, vielmehr ist es eine Zusammenfassung und Ausformung seiner Tagebucheinträge, die er in den symbolischen Zyklus eines Jahres integriert und zusammenfasst. Dabei ist sein Stil geprägt von hoher Flexibilität und Sprachkunst, die die Übertragung in andere Sprachen oft erschwert hat. .<br> Die achtzehn Kapitel des Buches sind unterschiedlichen Aspekten menschlichen Daseins gewidmet, so enthält es zum Beispiel Reflexionen über die Ökonomie, über die Einsamkeit, Betrachtungen über die Tiere des Waldes oder über die Lektüre klassischer literarischer Werke.(Zusammenfassung von MarcusChristopher )

15Excursions

By Henry David Thoreau

Excursions is an 1863 anthology of several essays by American transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau. The anthology contains an introduction entitled "Biographical Sketch" in which fellow transcendentalist Ralph Waldo Emerson provides a description of Thoreau. The book, other than R. W. Emerson's biography of Thoreau, contains nine of Thoreau's essays: Natural History of Massachusetts, A Walk to Wachusett, The Landlord, A Winter Walk, The Succession of Forest Trees, Walking, Autumnal Tints, Wild Apples, and Night and Moonlight. - (summary from Wikipedia.org)

16Journal of Henry David Thoreau Volume 1: 1837 - 1846

By Henry David Thoreau

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 for disobedience to an unjust state. Thoreau was known for being a prolific writer, keeping journals from the age of 20 until shortly before his death.He wrote of his observations in nature, gleaned largely from his daily walks. He also was a man of strong opinions, which are included here. This first volume covers 10 years, starting at the age of twenty. - Summary by Wikipedia/Phyllis Vincelli