"The Idea of Wilderness: From Prehistory to the Age of Ecology," by Max Oelschaeger (Yale University Press, 1991, 477 pp., hardcover). (dust jacket). Includes an entire chapter on Henry David Thoreau. A classic volume, slightly used, with a spine slightly bent as it stands on the shelf. Otherwise nice. "Argues that the idea of wilderness has reflected the evolving character of human existence from Paleolithic times to the present day. An intellectual history, it draws together evidence from philosophy, anthropology, theology, literature, ecology, cultural geography, and archaeology to provide a new scientifically and philosophically informed understanding of humankind's relation to nature."