Reform Papers

The selections from the polemical writings of Thoreau that make up Reform Papers represent every stage in his twenty-two years of active writing. Consequently, they are a microcosm of his literary career, allowing the reader to achieve a full sense of Thoreau's evolution as a writer and thinker. The volume opens with "The Service," one of the best examples of Thoreau's early style and interests, and contains ten other essays as well.

Reform Papers:

• The Service

• Paradise (To Be) Regained

• Herald of Freedom

• Wendell Phillips Before Concord Lyceum

• Resistance to Civil Government

• Slavery in Massachusetts

• A Plea for Captain John Brown

• Martyrdom of John Brown

• The Last Days of John Brown

• Life without Principle

• Reform and the Reformers