Henry David Thoreau is one of the most important figures in American history, our greatest critic of the American way of life and the author of “Walden,” which could be considered America’s most important book. However, “Walden” needs to be read in the context of Thoreau’s role as a philosophical gadfly in mid-19th-century Concord, Massachusetts, and his status as one of the great radical minds in American history.
Join Clay Jenkinson, one of the principal scholars in the 2026 PBS Documentary on Thoreau produced by Ken Burns and Don Henley, as he offers insights into one of America’s most original thinkers.
