Even a cursory reading of Henry David Thoreau's immortal essay about civil disobedience reveals echoes in contemporary discussions of individual rights and the limits of government in a free society. Its themes resonate into the 21st century. Faced with a federal government that condoned the institution of slavery and was waging a war of questionable origin in Mexico, Thoreau pushed his readers to consider the responsibility of an individual with conscience.

This edition includes "The definition of a peaceable revolution," an introductory essay by Warren Bluhm, and bonus content, Ralph Waldo Emerson's 1844 essay "Politics."