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Search - List of Books by Henry David Thoreau

"As a single footstep will not make a path on the earth, so a single thought will not make a pathway in the mind. To make a deep physical path, we walk again and again. To make a deep mental path, we must think over and over the kind of thoughts we wish to dominate our lives." -- Henry David Thoreau
Henry David Thoreau (born David Henry Thoreau; July 12, 1817 — May 6, 1862) was an American author, poet, abolitionist, naturalist, tax resister, development critic, surveyor, historian, philosopher, and leading transcendentalist. He is best known for his book Walden, a reflection upon simple living in natural surroundings, and his essay, Civil Disobedience, an argument for individual resistance to civil government in moral opposition to an unjust state.

Thoreau's books, articles, essays, journals, and poetry total over 20 volumes. Among his lasting contributions were his writings on natural history and philosophy, where he anticipated the methods and findings of ecology and environmental history, two sources of modern day environmentalism. His literary style interweaves close natural observation, personal experience, pointed rhetoric, symbolic meanings, and historical lore; while displaying a poetic sensibility, philosophical austerity, and "Yankee" love of 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 imploring one to abandon waste and illusion in order to discover life's true essential needs.

He was a lifelong abolitionist, delivering lectures that attacked the Fugitive Slave Law while praising the writings of Wendell Phillips and defending abolitionist John Brown. Thoreau's philosophy of civil disobedience influenced the political thoughts and actions of such later figures as Leo Tolstoy, Mahatma Gandhi, and Martin Luther King, Jr.

Thoreau is sometimes cited as an individualist anarchist.Encyclopaedia of the Social Sciences, edited by Edwin Robert Anderson Seligman, Alvin Saunders Johnson, 1937, p. 12.Gross, David (ed.) The Price of Freedom: Political Philosophy from Thoreau's Journals p. 8, ISBN 978-1-4348-0552-2 ("The Thoreau of these journals distrusted doctrine, and, though it is accurate I think to call him an anarchist, he was by no means doctrinaire in this either.") Though Civil Disobedience seems to call for improving rather than abolishing government — "I ask for, not at once no government, but at once a better government" — the direction of this improvement aims at anarchism: "'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." Richard Drinnon partly blames Thoreau for the ambiguity, noting that Thoreau's "sly satire, his liking for wide margins for his writing, and his fondness for paradox provided ammunition for widely divergent interpretations of 'Civil Disobedience.'" He further points out that although Thoreau writes that he only wants "at once" a better government, that does not rule out the possibility that a little later he might favor no government.

Quotes   more

Early Life and Education   more

Return to Concord: 1837—1841   more

Civil Disobedience and the Walden Years: 1845—1849   more

Later Years: 1851—1862   more

Death   more

Beliefs   more

Influence   more

Critique   more

Works   more

Further Reading   more

This author page uses material from the Wikipedia article "Henry David Thoreau", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0
Total Books: 1061
An American Landscape
An American Landscape (Hardcover)
ISBN-13: 9781557784919
ISBN-10: 1557784914
Genre: Literature & Fiction
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The Annotated Walden Walden or Life in the Woods
The Annotated Walden Walden or Life in the Woods (Hardcover)
ISBN-13: 9780517224236
ISBN-10: 0517224232
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AntiSlavery and Reform Papers
Antislavery and Reform Papers (Paperback)Paperback, Hardcover
ISBN-13: 9781151310521
ISBN-10: 1151310522
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Autumn
Autumn (Paperback)
ISBN-13: 9780217442558
ISBN-10: 0217442552
Genre: Outdoors & Nature
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Autumn From the Journal of Henry D Thoreau
Autumn From the Journal of Henry D Thoreau (Paperback)
ISBN-13: 9781143087813
ISBN-10: 114308781X
Genre: Outdoors & Nature
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Autumn From the Journal of Henry D Thoreau Edited by H G O Blake
Autumn From The Journal Of Henry David Thoreau
Autumn From the Journal of Henry David Thoreau (Hardcover)Paperback
ISBN-13: 9780548162309
ISBN-10: 0548162301
Genre: Outdoors & Nature
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Autumnal Tints
Autumnal Tints (Audio CD)Paperback
ISBN-13: 9780979311529
ISBN-10: 0979311527
Genres: Sports & Outdoors, Travel, Outdoors & Nature, Sports & Outdoors
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Autumnal Tints A Classic Essay
Autumnal Tints a Classic Essay (Paperback)
ISBN-13: 9781503377370
ISBN-10: 1503377377
Genre: Biographies & Memoirs
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Autumnal Tints  on Playaway
Autumnal Tints on Playaway (Audio CD)
ISBN-13: 9781606403440
ISBN-10: 1606403443
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Backwoods and Along the Seashore
Backwoods and Along the Seashore (Paperback)
ISBN-13: 9781570620560
ISBN-10: 1570620563
Genres: Literature & Fiction, Travel, Outdoors & Nature
  • Currently 3.5/5 Stars.
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Backwoods and Along the Seashore  Selections from The Maine Woods and Cape Cod
Backwoods and Along the Seashore Selections From the Maine Woods and Cape Cod [Shambhala Library] (Hardcover)
ISBN-13: 9781590301586
ISBN-10: 1590301587
Genre: Literature & Fiction
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Balade d'hiver couleurs d'automne
Balade D'hiver Couleurs D'automne [French Edition] (Paperback)
ISBN-13: 9782755500288
ISBN-10: 275550028X
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ber die Pflicht zum Ungehorsam gegen den Staat
Ber Die Pflicht Zum Ungehorsam Gegen Den Staat (Paperback)
ISBN-13: 9783257700510
ISBN-10: 3257700512
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ber die Pflicht zum Ungehorsam gegen den Staat / Civil Disobeyence
ber die Pflicht zum Ungehorsam gegen den Staat und andere Essays
Ber Die Pflicht Zum Ungehorsam Gegen Den Staat Und Andere Essays (Paperback)
ISBN-13: 9783257200638
ISBN-10: 3257200633
Genre: Reference
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Best of Thoreau Cape Cod
Best of Thoreau Cape Cod [Illustrated] (Paperback)
ISBN-13: 9781953649430
ISBN-10: 1953649432
Genres: Travel, Science & Math
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Bonds Of Affection Thoreau On Dogs And Cats
Bonds of Affection Thoreau on Dogs and Cats [The Spirit of Thoreau] (Paperback)Hardcover
ISBN-13: 9781558494985
ISBN-10: 1558494987
Genres: Literature & Fiction, Crafts, Hobbies & Home
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Breviario Para Ciudadanos Libres
Breviario Para Ciudadanos Libres [Spanish Edition] (Paperback)
ISBN-13: 9788483072295
ISBN-10: 8483072297
Genres: Health, Fitness & Dieting, Nonfiction
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Caminar
Caminar (Other)
ISBN-13: 9788488020109
ISBN-10: 8488020104
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Canoeing in the Wilderness
Canoeing in the Wilderness (Paperback)Paperback, Hardcover
ISBN-13: 9781152509528
ISBN-10: 1152509527
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Cape Cod and Miscellanies [The writings of Henry David Thoreau ; 4] (Hardcover)
Colores De Otono [Spanish Edition] (Paperback)
Desobediencia Civil [Spanish Edition] (Paperback)
Desobediencia Civil Y Otros Escritos / Civil Disobedience and Other Writings [Coleccion Clasicos Del Pensamiento, 32 - Spanish Edition] (Paperback)
Escribir/ Write [Spanish Edition] (Paperback)
Essais [French Edition] (Paperback)
Excursions and Poems [The Writings of Henry David Theoreau ; 5] (Other)
Faith in a Seed [Chinese Edition] (Paperback)Paperback
Familiar Letters [The Writings of Henry David Thoreau] (Other)
The Green Thoreau [Classic Wisdom Collection Series] (Hardcover)
Henry David Thoreau's Walden [Barron's Book Notes] (Paperback)
The Journal 18371861 [New York Review Books Classics] (Paperback)
 
Journal [The Writings of Henry David Thoreau] (Other)
Libro De Citas [Spanish Edition] (Paperback)
Los Bosques De Maine/ the Maine Woods [Dando Pata - Spanish Edition] (Paperback)
Natural History Essays [Literature of the American wilderness] (Paperback)
The Natural History Essays [Peregrine Smith Literary Naturalists] (Paperback)
A Novel Journal Walden [Compact - Novel Journals] (Hardcover)
Pasear [Spanish Edition] (Paperback)
A Plea for Captain John Brown By Thoreau [World Cultural Heritage Library] (Paperback)
Reflections at Walden [Hallmark crown editions] (Other)
Selected Writings [Crofts Classics] (Paperback)
Selections From the Journals [Dover Thrift Editions] (Paperback)
Thoreau a Book of Quotations [Dover Thrift Editions] (Paperback)
Thoreau on Birds Cl [The Concord Library] (Hardcover)
Thoreau on Nature [Thoreau for These Times] (Paperback)
Thoreau on Patriotism Protest [Thoreau for These Times] (Paperback)
Thoreau on Simplicity [Thoreau for These Times] (Paperback)
Thoreau Political Writings [Cambridge Texts in the History of Political Thought] (Hardcover)Paperback
The Thoughts of Thoreau [Edwin Way Teale Library of Nature Classics] (Paperback)Hardcover
Un Yankee Au Canada [French Edition] (Paperback)
Walden Containing Economy and Where I Lived and What I Lived For [Classics Retold to be Read, Not just Revered] (Paperback)
Walden [Everyman's library] (Paperback)Hardcover
Walden La VIda En Los Bosques [Clasicos De Siempre - Spanish Edition - Clasicos De Siempre: Fuentes De Inspiracion / All Time Classics: Sources of Inspiration] (Paperback)
Walden or Life in the Woods [Dover Large Print Classics] (Paperback)
Walden or Life in the Woods [Dover Thrift Editions] (Paperback)
Walden Oxford World Classics [Oxford Pocket Classics] (Hardcover)
Walden Pond [New England Landmarks] (Hardcover)
The Wisdom of Thoreau [Wisdom Library] (Paperback)