Walden (1854), Henry David Thoreau's landmark meditation on the importance of solitude, reflection, and proximity to nature, is presented in this Norton Library edition alongside three of his most influential political essays: "Civil Disobedience," "Slavery in Massachusetts," and "A Plea for Captain John Brown." An introduction by Jedediah Britton-Purdy reacquaints Thoreau to the contemporary reader a nuanced account of Thoreau's historical and intellectual contexts, inviting a new generation to connect with the transcendentalist's timeless philosophy.