Thoreau’s Relevance in the Twenty-First Century

Abstract

Both edited collections of essays in this review were published during the coronavirus pandemic, a time that spurred readers to consider anew Henry David Thoreau’s challenge to examine where we live and what we live for. Thoreau’s relevance to modern life has shifted over the years from an emphasis on his simple living during the Depression, to his civil disobedience during the Viet Nam war years, and more recently to his defense of nature in an era of climate change. While these two books do not give us yet another new Thoreau, they do remind us of his relevance to both personal and national contemporary life.