"In this graceful philosophical account, Alfred I. Tauber shows clearly why Thoreau seems so relevant today - more relevant in many respects than he seemed to his contemporaries. Although Thoreau has been skillfully and thoroughly examined as a writer, naturalist, mystic, historian, social thinker, transcendentalist, and lifelong student, we may find in Tauber's portrait of Thoreau the moralist a richer characterization that binds all these aspects of his career together."--BOOK JACKET.