Well known for his contrarianism and solitude, Henry David Thoreau was nonetheless deeply responsive to the world around him. His writings bear the traces of his wide-ranging reading, travels, political interests, and social influences. Henry David Thoreau in Context brings together leading scholars of Thoreau and nineteenth-century American literature and culture and presents original research, valuable synthesis of historical and scholarly sources, and innovative readings of Thoreau's texts. Across thirty-four chapters, this collection reveals a Thoreau deeply concerned with and shaped by a diverse range of environments, intellectual traditions, social issues, and modes of scientific practice. Essays also illuminate important posthumous contexts and consider the specific challenges of contextualizing Thoreau today. This collection provides a rich understanding of Thoreau and nineteenth-century American literature, political activism, and environmentalist thinking that will be a vital resource for students, teachers, scholars, and general readers.
Author: James S. Finley Publisher: Cambridge University Press Published: 04/07/2017 Pages: 418 Binding Type: Hardcover Weight: 1.58lbs Size: 9.38h x 6.28w x 1.08d ISBN: 9781107149229
Review Citation(s): Choice 12/01/2017
About the Author Finley, James S.: - James S. Finley is Assistant Professor of English at Texas A & M University. A former editor of The Thoreau Society Bulletin, he has published multiple essays on Henry David Thoreau on topics including environmentalism, abolitionism, and The Maine Woods. In 2014, he participated in the 150th Thoreau-Wabanaki Tour, a retracing of Thoreau's 1857 journey through northern Maine. In 2017, he served on the faculty of a National Endowment for the Humanities Landmarks of American History seminar: 'Living and Writing Deliberately: The Concord Landscapes and Legacy of Henry David Thoreau'. He has received fellowships from the American Antiquarian Society and The Thoreau Society.
