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 therreader 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