On Twelve Trees and other books
After reading one of 2024’s best new books about trees, ITF Trustee, Stephen Barber, shares the many tree themed books he’s enjoyed, from sixty years ago through to his current reading list.
“Trees are our … custodians, forecasters, and predictors in an era of changing climates.” So writes Daniel Lewis in his outstanding new book, Twelve Trees (2024). From the bristlecone pine to the olive tree, each species serves as a platform for the author to explore topics such as dendrochronology, epiphytes, endangered species, illegal logging and the history of insects. His writing is lively, incisive and erudite.
Reading it set me thinking about the myriad of books on trees I’ve chanced on over a lifetime’s reading, and what makes one book stand out from another. The first such book was the modest and compact Observer’s Book of Trees (1960, second edition). The next was Vedel & Lange’s Trees and Bushes (also 1960). Sixty-five years on, I still have both. Some years later came Hugh Johnson’s International Book of Trees (1973, revised 2010), a guide to the world’s tree families. Written in masterly (if opinionated) prose, beautifully illustrated and comprehensive, it has yet to be bettered.
If there was one book I would have loved to have conceived —better still, written — it is the Thomas Pakenham’s Meetings With Remarkable Trees. Published in 1996, Meetings is a lyrical account of the historian’s encounters with ancient and unusual trees around the UK. For each tree, a full-page photograph, taken by the author, faces a page of text, weaving together anecdote with literary and botanical allusions in an elegant and witty style. (I’m now about to relish the 91-year-old’s latest book, The Tree Hunters, on how arboretums have transformed our landscape.)
Despite Packenham’s many imitators, no one has yet improved on his seminal book, except perhaps he himself in subsequent works. Its format is original, its photographic portraits magnificent, his prose irresistible. The almost thirty years since its publication have seen a cascade of books on trees, from species monographs (e.g. The Ash Tree, Oliver Rackham, 2014) and country surveys (The Trees That Made Britain, Archie Miles, 2021) to global selections (Around the World In 80 Trees, Jonathan Drori, 2018) and books on trees’ ‘wisdom’ (Finding the Mother Tree, a memoir by Suzanne Simard). There are books on the life of woodlands and books on how to chop, dry and stack wood.
They are worthy, informative volumes. A handful stand out for the lucidity and eloquence of their prose, notably those of Johnson, Pakenham and Rackham. Rackham in particular is the great explainer of the English countryside, its woods, trees and landscape. Another legendary name is Alan Mitchell, who spent his life travelling the length and breadth of Britain examining, measuring and recording trees, as well as writing several comprehensive field guides. His Trees of Britain (1996) includes the measurements and locations of over 150 species, laced with his typically robust judgements on their virtues or otherwise.
One book from 2017 that remains in my memory for its enchanting, stylish exploration of the lives of 17 tree species and individual specimens is Fiona Stafford’s The Long, Long Life of Trees. Probably the most literary of all the books here, yet with splendid illustrations, it deserves attention from dendrologists and laymen alike.
The New Sylva (2021) is a publishing marvel. By Gabriel Hemery, a self-described sylvologist, and Sarah Simblet, it comes in a large format, half-cloth binding. Simblet’s extraordinary line drawings of British trees combine with Hemery’s workmanlike text in a page design inspired by Sylva, John Evelyn’s celebrated work of 1664.
There are works of fiction in which trees are at the centre of the narrative, of which the best in recent years is Richard Powers’ The Overstory (2019). It fictionalises the backstory of a small group of activists who campaign to save a stand of Californian redwoods. One activist is based on the real-life Simard, whose pioneering research showing how mycorrhizal networks under the soil allow trees to communicate with each other (the ‘woodwide web’) has inspired so many others. Her best-selling memoir, though, doesn’t quite match the originality of her research.
“The English oak is the Napoleon of tree species. There are probably more books on Quercus robur than on any other tree”
Simard’s discoveries have spawned a whole sub-genre of books on tree sentience, a few fringe botanists even arguing that trees have consciousness. The German forester Peter Wohlleben has been hugely successful with his The Hidden Life of Trees (2016), followed by his The Heartbeat of Trees (2021), though serious tree people may find his writing a little too speculative and at times mystical for their liking. Such doubters would find Colin Tudge’s superlative The Secret Life of Trees (2005) a more rewarding read.
On global perspective, Fred Pierce’s A Trillion Trees: How We Can Reforest Our World (2021), is an inspiring must-read, full of counterintuitive and myth-puncturing insights.
The English oak is the Napoleon of tree species. There are probably more books on Quercus robur than on any other tree. Just a few are The British Oak (Archie Miles, 2016), Oak (Peter Young, 2013) and The Glorious Life of the Oak (John Lewis-Stempel, 2018). All have their place on the bookshelf. But none can match Aljos Farjon’s monumental study, Ancient Oaks in the English Landscape (2017, second ed., 2022). Farjon has not only visited all of England’s important sites for ancient oaks, but also measured and photographed many of their arboreal inhabitants. At times the detail can feel overwhelming, but his exceptional knowledge and dedication to the subject are undeniable. Definitely one for oak nerds.
A recent bestseller this year is the ‘natural navigator’ Tristan Gooley’s How to Read a Tree. Though not a tree specialist, Gooley knows enough to write about the natural characteristics of trees and what they can tell us about the landscape, the weather and the history of a tree. Yet anyone with even a passing interest in the subject may find his observations just a little too obvious.
All the books here bring something distinctive. All are worth reading. A few combine originality, quality of writing, presentation and first-rate science. Of recent publications, Twelve Trees is certainly among the very best.
Read more about trees
Read the lastest edition of ITF’s journal, Trees. This issue of Trees is celebration of trees around the world, from the ancient redwoods of North America to the traditional orchards of Britain. But it’s also a celebration of the extraordinary difference you’ve helped to make. From equality in coffee farming to restoration of precious forests. Plus a cupcake recipe from Bake Off winner, Frances Quinn, an excerpt from Oaklore from author Jules Acton and what to do when in your garden.