The Thoreau You Don't Know (English)

There can be little question that what little control we hold over our destinies ends with death. We have no say over how we will be remembered after we are gone. As a transcendentalist, believing in the preeminence of spiritual and intellectual essence over physical reality, Henry David Thoreau knew this as well as anyone, but he would still likely be dismayed over how his image has deteriorated in the realm of popular knowledge. Thoreau, now often thought of as a reclusive naturalist, was actually an agitator, an extroverted entertainer, and a passionate abolitionist. Robert Sullivan re-introduces readers to Thoreau by placing him back within the context of his time and place, to show how 19th-century Concord helped to shape his ambitions and actions at various critical points in his life. It is particularly interesting to note that Thoreau, considered one of the greatest writers of his time, did not earn his living by using pencils, but by making them, in his family's factory. minimize