I just finished two years of researching the American suffragists, and I can say in all that time, I read absolutely nothing about the Transcendentalists. Many of the early suffragists were Quaker, a fact that cropped up continually in my reading. If the Transcendentalists were a true force for soci ...more

Hearing the author speak elevates this to 4 stars for me. In Buehrens' telling of the story of the Transcendentalists in the 19th century we get to see the range of individuals (as Emerson is quoted, "there is no history, only biography")— central to key debates around slavery; societal expectations ...more

The Transcendentalist Society held formal meetings for only five years, 1836-1840. Buehrens demonstrates that their progressive ideas are still a great influence today on such issues as civil rights, gender equality, and the environment, among others. Each chapter focuses on a different Transcendent ...more

Interesting and mostly accurate from what I know, but ONLY told about social activism from the point of view or transcendentalists--everyone else left out which could lead one to think that they were solely responsible for social change (which of course, they weren't). ...more

To some this might sound like a pretty dry topic. However the author focused on the people behind Transcendentalism and made it an engaging read. These folks drove a lot of slavery abolition work and women's rights issues of the day. Many Unitarians were involved. ...more

A fresh, insightful perspective on Transcendentalism and many lesser known but interesting members of the movement. The narrative can be occasionally dense with historical and biographical detail but Beuhrens is clearly a master of his subject and an engaging writer. ...more

This was a good read that expanded my sense of the Transcendentalists. Thoreau (and much of the Concord crowd) is thoroughly ignored! In favor of the more active communities in Boston. ...more