About the Book: Walden and Civil Disobedience
Walden is a book written by Henry David Thoreau, a reflection upon simple
living in nature. The work is part personal declaration of independence, social
experiment, voyage of spiritual discovery, satire, and manual for self-reliance.
By immersing himself in nature, Thoreau hoped to gain a more objective
understanding of society through personal introspection. Simple living and
self-sufficiency were Thoreaus other goals, and the whole project was inspired
by transcendentalist philosophy.
Civil Disobedience is thought to have originated after Thoreau spent a night in
jail for refusing to pay taxes to a government with whose policies he did not
agree. Assigning