Walden Pond: A History

Here is the first history of the Massachusetts landmark Henry David Thoreau made famous 150 years ago. W. Barksdale Maynard offers a lively and comprehensive account of Walden Pond - from the early nineteenth century to the present. From Thoreau's first visit at age 4 in 1821 to today's efforts both to conserve and allow public access to it, Maynard captures Walden Pond's history and the role it has played in social, cultural, literary, and environmental movements in America. Exhaustively researched, vividly written, and illustrated with historical photographs and the most detailed maps of Thoreau country ever created, this book reveals how an ordinary body of water has come to be such an extraordinarily inspiring symbol.