SUMMARY: Thoreau, a sturdy individualist and nature lover, lived a spare existence in a wooden hut on the edge of Walden Pond near Concord, Massachusetts, from 1845 to 1847. "Walden" is a record of his experiment in a simple life and his contemplation of the wonders of nature and the ways of man. This book includes the famous essay, "On the Duty of Civil Disobedience, " a selection of his poetry and a new introduction by W.S. Merwin.