从1845年7月4日到1847年9月6日，梭罗独自生活在瓦尔登湖边，差不多正好两年零两个月。瓦尔登湖不仅为梭罗提供了一个栖身之所，也为他提供了一种独特的精神氛围。
1846年2月，梭罗按计划前去康科德城讲课。梭罗准备了一个“我自己的历史”（The History of Myself）的课题。没想到讲座受到观众的热烈欢迎。在这次讲座的启发下，梭罗将自己的讲课提纲加以整理，又经过了很长一段时间的写作，终于完成了Walden，or Life in Woods（《瓦尔登湖，又名林中生活散记》）这部传世的名著。《瓦尔登湖》出版于1854年，这是19世纪美国文学非小说著作中受读者欢迎的书籍。目前，此书已出现了两百多个版本，并被译成许多种文字。

HENRY DAVID THOREAU (1817-1862) was an American author, poet, naturalist, historian,philosopher, and leading transcendentalist. Thoreau's books, articles, essays, journals, and poetry total over 2o volumes, among which Walden, a reflection upon simple living in natural surroundings, is best known.Thoreau's philosophy of civil disobedience influenced the political thoughts and actions of such later figures as Leo Tolstoy, Mahatma Gandhi, and Martin Luther King, Jr.

1. Economy
2. Complemental Verses
3. Where I Lived， and What I Lived for
4. Reading
5. Sounds
6. Solitude
7. Visitors
8. The Beanfield
9. The Village
10. The Ponds
11. Baker Farm
12. Higher Laws
13. Brute Neighbors
14. House-Warming
15. Former Inhabitants； and Winter Visitors
16. Winter Animals
17. The Pond in Winter
18. Spring
19. Conclusion