In the bicentennial year of the nation, Robert A. Gross published a groundbreaking study of Concord, Massachusetts, during the American Revolution, which won the Bancroft Prize and became a bestseller. Forty years later, Gross revisits Concord to examine the rise of Transcendentalism, offering a fresh perspective on its influential thinkers. Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and the Alcotts called this New England town home, with Thoreau drawing extensively from its life in his classic, Walden. However, from the 1820s to the 1840s, Concord was not merely a pastoral haven for poets and philosophers; it was a community undergoing significant transformation. With a population of over two thousand, Concord experienced a ferment of change as capitalism and democracy reshaped inherited institutions and associations, emphasizing autonomy and choice. These changes exposed residents to new ideas and opportunities, fostering uncertainties and aspirations for perfection while creating an audience for concepts of individual freedom and democratic equality that resonate today. This work serves as both an intimate exploration of Concord's community life and a cultural study of major American writers, revealing how their shared experiences influenced their literary contributions. It richly recovers a nineteenth-century American community, highlighting its significance in the broader American narrative.
