This edition includes the following editor's analysis: Henry David Thoreau, the indomitable environmentalist

Originally published in 1863, "Excursions" is an anthology of several essays by American transcendentalist and environmentalist Henry David Thoreau. These essays represent Thoreau in many stages of his writing career, ranging from 1842 to 1862.
The anthology was published posthumously and contains an introduction entitled "Biographical Sketch" in which fellow transcendentalist Ralph Waldo Emerson provides a description of Thoreau.
The collection, other than R. W. Emerson's biography of Thoreau, contains nine of Thoreau's most engaging and popular essays: Natural History of Massachusetts, A Walk to Wachusett, The Landlord, A Winter Walk, The Succession of Forest Trees, Walking, Autumnal Tints, Wild Apples, and Night and Moonlight.