
Throughout history some books have changed the world They have transformed the way we see ourselves
- & each other They have inspired debate dissent war & revolution They have enlightened outraged provoked & comforted They have enriched lives
- & destroyed them Now Penguin brings you the works of the great thinkers pioneers radicals & visionaries whose ideas shook civilization & helped make us who we are Thoreau's account of his solitary & self-sufficient home in the New England woods remains an inspiration to the environmental movement
- a call to his fellow men to abandon their striving materialistic existences of 'quiet desperation' for a simple life within their means finding spiritual truth through awareness of the sheer beauty of their surroundings