This non fiction biography, first published in 1959, tells the life story of Henry David Thoreau through the eyes of admiring author Sterling North. The narrative begins when Henry is about six and progresses through time, with occasional flashbacks or foreshadowing of events to come.

Henry grows up in Concord, Massachusetts a town that has seen its share of hardship and challenge. According to North, Thoreau feels great respect for rugged outdoorsmen, loves nature and desperately wants to live wild and free like Native Americans or riverboat sailors. His family are poor, honest and hardworking people, well liked in the community. He has two sisters, and one brother, John, probably his best friend in the world. Thoreau learns to work very hard on the family farm and in his father's pencil factory, yet he always makes the time to read books about eras long past, heroic adventures...