Political Writings

Thoreau’s political writing is intensely personal and direct. Both his life and work focus uncompromisingly on the question ‘how should I live?’, and for Thoreau, no element of day-to-day existence is left untouched by moral and political issues. This edition of Thoreau’s political essays includes ‘Civil Disobedience’, selections from Walden, ‘Life Without Principle’, and the anti-slavery addresses, such as ‘Slavery in Massachusetts’. In her introduction, Nancy L. Rosenblum places the essays in the context of Thoreau’s life of self-examination, and the debates about the abolition of slavery, and she analyses the themes of citizenship and resistance that have made Thoreau an enduring influence in political philosophy and practice.

• First complete edition of Thoreau’s political writings • Includes an introduction setting Thoreau’s thought in its biographical and political context • Thoreau was a powerful and influential writer

Introduction; Chronology and bibliography; 1. ‘Resistance to civil government’; 2. ‘Economy’, ‘Higher laws’, ‘Conclusion’ (from Walden); 3. ‘Life without principle’; 4. ‘Slavery in Massachusetts’; 5. ‘A plea for Captain John Brown’; 6. ‘Martyrdom of John Brown’; 7. ‘The last days of John Brown’.