Five of the best books about trees
Wondrous woodland giants … Redwood national park, California. Photograph: Bartfett/Getty Images/iStockphoto
The Guardian, August 29th, 2024
From true crime tales of tree poaching to a wildlife cameraman’s adventures, this collection enters the endlessly fascinating world of our woodlands
There are few places my footsteps feel lighter than beneath a mighty oak or ash – when I’m bathed in shadow, breathing them in. But it isn’t just a craftsman’s love for his materials that moves me, it’s a passion for character. Like us, each of these wondrous woodland giants has been uniquely affected by the times in which it has lived – the connections it has made and the ground in which it found root – and I think this individuality helps explain why trees are so endlessly fascinating. Let us plunge, then, into five very different books about trees.
The Treeline by Ben Rawlence
As our planet grows warmer, much of the natural world is on the move, and for the hardy trees of the vast boreal forest – a critical ecosystem circling the northern hemisphere – the climate crisis means climbing ever farther north. In this riveting, rigorous (and frankly terrifying) book, Rawlence follows the march of the pine, larch, fir, poplar, spruce and rowan that make their homes in our most brutal latitudes, skilfully blending their stories with those of the local people and scientists who live and work along the tree line, and starkly examining the ramifications for all future life on Earth.
The Wood by John Lewis-Stempel
At just three-and-a-half acres, Cockshutt Wood in Herefordshire is about as far from the boreal forest as it’s possible to get, but that’s rather the point. Indeed, the beauty of this lyrical, informative and, at times, very funny woodland diary is its intimacy. From the smallest snuffling creature to the mightiest tree, its diverse cast of flora and fauna is treated like family. Day by day, in vignettes that are by turns poetic, poignant, absurd and intriguing, The Wood documents Lewis-Stempel’s fourth and final year managing the forest.
The Sixteen Trees of the Somme by Lars Mytting
Evocatively set in rural Norway and the remote Shetland Islands archipelago, Mytting’s gripping mystery gradually works away at the knotty family secrets of Edvard Hirifjell – the untimely death of his parents, a bitter wartime feud and a priceless missing inheritance – ultimately revealing a history swirling with all the tension, drama and beauty of the unique grain that’s hidden inside every tree.
Tree Thieves by Lyndsie Bourgon
Part page-turning true crime, part social history, these scrupulously researched stories offer an utterly absorbing deep cut into the world of international tree poaching and hidden-market timber. Primarily investigating the old-growth redwood forests of the US north-west but ranging as far afield as the Amazon, Tree Thieves is compassionate and nuanced, sensitively navigating a complex understory of class, culture, identity and greed.
The Man Who Climbs Trees by James Aldred
Wildlife cameraman James Aldred’s thrilling memoir offers a uniquely vertiginous perspective. But though the book bristles with action and adventure, there’s far more here than gruelling climbs, tropical storms, killer bees and marauding gorillas. This is a story about a deep love of nature and the remarkable places your childhood dreams can take you.
