The Cambridge companion to Henry David Thoreau

the long version

The Cambridge Companion to Henry David Thoreau is an accessible guide to reading and understanding the works of Thoreau. Presenting essays by a distinguished array of contributors, the Companion is a valuable resource for historical and contextual material, whether on early writings such as A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers, on the monumental Walden, or on his Journal and later writings. It also serves as a biographical guide, offering insights into his publishing career and his brief but extraordinarily original life. In short, the Companion helps the reader to approach Thoreau's writings, as he would say, "deliberately and reservedly," by suggesting how Thoreau uses language, how his biography informs his writing, how personal and historical influences shaped his career, and how his writings function as literary works.