Walking
His last essay: a love letter to wildness. Our most-played Thoreau.
1 hr 9 min · read by Declan McHugh
0:00
4:44
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Author
Henry David Thoreau
The American naturalist and author of Walden.
1817–1862 PhilosophyLiteraryPolitical Philosophy
About
Who was Henry David Thoreau?
Henry David Thoreau was an American writer and naturalist who lived for two years in a cabin by Walden Pond and wrote about nature, simplicity and resisting unjust laws.
His life
Thoreau was born in Concord, Massachusetts, in 1817 and studied at Harvard. He worked as a teacher, surveyor and in his family's pencil business, and was a friend of Ralph Waldo Emerson. In 1846 he spent a night in jail for refusing to pay a tax that supported slavery and the war with Mexico.
His writing
From 1845 to 1847 he lived in a cabin he built on Emerson's land at Walden Pond. Walden (1854) describes that life. His essay on civil disobedience later inspired Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. His last essay, Walking, published just after his death in 1862, calls for wildness and long walks. He died in Concord at 44.
In Wildness is the preservation of the World.
New to Henry David Thoreau?
Start here
Walking
His last essay: a love letter to wildness. Our most-played Thoreau.
1 hr 9 min · read by Declan McHugh 
Walden
Two years in a cabin by the pond.
29 min · read by Gary Middleton
0:00
1:29
The Duty of Civil Disobedience
The essay that inspired Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr.
1 hr 4 min · read by Marcus Locke
0:00
4:32
Audiobooks
Listen to Henry David Thoreau
A Plea for Captain John Brown
Narrated by Gid Newell
In October 1859 John Brown led a raid on the arsenal at Harpers Ferry, hoping to start a slave revolt. He was captured and sentenced to hang. Many Americans called him a...
0:00
3:06
A Yankee in Canada
Narrated by Ross Billie
In the 1850s Henry David Thoreau took a short trip from Concord to Montreal and Quebec. A Yankee in Canada is his account: the river, the walls of Quebec, the falls at Mo...
0:00
4:41
Herald of Freedom
Narrated by Matthew Guldner
Thoreau’s fiery 1844 tribute to the anti-slavery Herald of Freedom and its bold editor—brought to life by Matthew Guldner—blends Transcendentalist wit, moral urgency, and...
0:00
2:35
Night and Moonlight
Narrated by Mike Polischuk
Why do people stay inside once the sun goes down? Henry David Thoreau thought the night was worth knowing. In this essay he walks by moonlight and writes about how the wo...
0:00
4:39
The Dark Ages
Narrated by Fiona Spreadborough
History is full of dark ages, Thoreau says, but the darkness is partly in the way history is written. We call those times dark because we know so little about them. He ar...
0:00
2:31
The Duty of Civil Disobedience
Narrated by Marcus Locke
Does a person owe obedience to the laws of a government they believe is wrong? Henry David Thoreau says no, and in this famous essay he explains why. A man's duty is to d...
0:00
4:32
Walden
Narrated by Gary Middleton
In 1845 Henry David Thoreau built a small cabin by Walden Pond in Massachusetts and lived there for two years. This reading offers his account of simple living: what he a...
0:00
1:29
Walking
Narrated by Declan McHugh
Thoreau’s timeless essay celebrates the art of walking and the restorative power of wild places. Declan McHugh’s warm narration invites you to slow down, think deeply, an...
0:00
4:44
Wild Apples
Narrated by Jason Michael Mann
Thoreau’s ode to the wild apple becomes a vivid, restorative field walk—celebrating sharp flavors, rugged beauty, and the freedom of untamed nature. A warmly narrated cla...
0:00
4:36
Life in dates
Henry David Thoreau's life
- 1817
Born in Concord, Massachusetts.
- 1845
Moves into his cabin at Walden Pond.
- 1846
Jailed for a night for refusing to pay a tax.
- 1849
Resistance to Civil Government (Civil Disobedience).
- 1854
Walden.
- 1862
Dies in Concord; Walking is published.
Questions
Questions about Henry David Thoreau
What is Walden about?
Thoreau's two years living simply in a cabin at Walden Pond, and what he learned about nature and living deliberately.
What is Civil Disobedience?
His essay arguing that people should refuse to obey unjust laws. It inspired Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr.
Which Thoreau audiobook should I start with?
Walking is short and our most-played. Then Walden.
Where can I listen to Henry David Thoreau audiobooks narrated by real people?
Academy Voices has 9 Henry David Thoreau audiobooks, each performed by a real narrator, with a free sample on every one. Every recording is Certified Human Voice.
Reviewed October 2026 by the Academy Voices team. Sources: Wikipedia, Wikidata .
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