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Book Description
A comprehensive survey in words and photographs of the great diversity of trees and woodland accessible to the public in Great Britain
Product Description
Britain has 80% of northern Europe's most ancient trees and a remarkable array of woodland types, in particular the huge variety of manifestations and combinations of our native species. Our trees are a defining feature of the British landscape and one of the best-loved aspects of our island. Archie Miles has been photographing trees and woodland for over 30 years and, in this lavishly illustrated guide, he presents a regional overview, highlighting the great diversity of woodlands and hedgerow trees, as well as some breathtaking individuals, many growing in extreme circumstances. Breaking the nation down into ten regions (including Northern Ireland), he covers the weird, the wonderful and the ancient, with superb photographs, keyed maps and a comprehensive reference section giving details of how to find the sites. Whether it be yew trees growing from inhospitable crevices in the limestone pavements of Lancashire, Britain's most northerly ash wood in the west Highlands of Scotland, tamarisk-topped hedge banks in Cornwall, pure laburnum hedges in Shropshire, hollies growing on seaside shingle banks of Kent, or simply the massive 42-foot girthed frame of the famous Bowthorpe Oak in Lincolnshire, the author chronicles the very best of British trees. (20040624)
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
40 of 40 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This is an exceptional book, containing superb photographs beautifully reproduced. Archie Miles is a well-known photographer with a penchant for trees, with previous publications such as The Trees That Made Britain and Silva, and this latest offering continues in the same vein. His photographic work is technically faultless, combining an intimate knowledge and passion of the subject with superb, crisp, beautifully-lit pictures of the whole range of British trees shown nicely in their respective environments. Many of the locations have to remain secret, as they're on private land. But the other locations are listed in a comprehensive Gazetteer, which even tells you how easy it is to reach them on foot. I hate the term "Coffee Table Book", as it implies the book will sit there looking beautiful but mostly un-read. But be sure if you love trees and know the difference between mundane and exceptional photography, then this book will stay on your coffee table for years, and you'll struggle to put it down!
Format:Hardcover
If you are a tree lover, this book is a must. The descriptions are fascinating and they are supported by many wonderful photos of amazing trees.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
1 review
Mutilated Trees of Britain
28 July 2008
Format:Hardcover
About half photos and half text. Coffee-table sort of book. Treats each of 90 wooded areas (some individual trees) with a decorative spread of good but not great photography and a sometimes nannyish prose description. Features an outline map of Great Britain indicating rough location of each subject woods. Also a gazetteer at the back with driving directions to each.
The selection of woods and trees seems odd to me, an untravelled Californian. Most seem spindly and scrubby. They have usually been cut back over and over again ("coppiced" and "pollarded") for centuries until they are left shrubby, with many slender, gnarly trunks. Many have a krumholz effect, which can be attractive, but less so when it is caused by arboricultural interference as these are. Most others are dwarfed by suboptimal growth conditions (cliffsides) where the sheep couln't get at them. One gets the impression that the southern half of England has very few trees over 20 feet in height, and almost none over 30 feet. It explains why they are hidden.
Scotland and Wales do a little better with some healthy looking woods and a lot of interesting stressed trees, sort of a subalpine effect.
There are only a handful of tree species represented, but the impression I get is that these are the only species in Great Britain. It seems that the only non-introduced conifers in Britain are the Yew and the Scotch Pine.
The photographs are very attractive but not very botanically informative. Although the author writes in many places about lime trees, and photographs many of them, I would not be able to identify one on the basis of this book. From the photographs they appear as just generic trees. This is a frustration throughout the book. I do think I might be able to identify a rowan in leaf on the basis of this book. So that's one to the good. But I might get it confused with a whitebeam.
The author's writing talents do not measure up to his photography. The text is a chatty travelogue just slightly above the level of a flight magazine.
Some reasons you might want to buy this book. a.) It's pretty. b.) It's a conversation starter. c.) It's very relaxing, non-stressful reading, good to while away idle moments or at bedtime. d.) You live in Great Britain and want to travel around and see some of these trees and their settings. e.) It introduces a little-known aspect of the British countryside.
It is obvious from the author's use of informal Britishisms and various assumptions about what readers know, that he did not expect this book to be read outside Great Britain. Which is an adequate explanation for what I perceive as flaws. I might award four stars if I lived in England.
The selection of woods and trees seems odd to me, an untravelled Californian. Most seem spindly and scrubby. They have usually been cut back over and over again ("coppiced" and "pollarded") for centuries until they are left shrubby, with many slender, gnarly trunks. Many have a krumholz effect, which can be attractive, but less so when it is caused by arboricultural interference as these are. Most others are dwarfed by suboptimal growth conditions (cliffsides) where the sheep couln't get at them. One gets the impression that the southern half of England has very few trees over 20 feet in height, and almost none over 30 feet. It explains why they are hidden.
Scotland and Wales do a little better with some healthy looking woods and a lot of interesting stressed trees, sort of a subalpine effect.
There are only a handful of tree species represented, but the impression I get is that these are the only species in Great Britain. It seems that the only non-introduced conifers in Britain are the Yew and the Scotch Pine.
The photographs are very attractive but not very botanically informative. Although the author writes in many places about lime trees, and photographs many of them, I would not be able to identify one on the basis of this book. From the photographs they appear as just generic trees. This is a frustration throughout the book. I do think I might be able to identify a rowan in leaf on the basis of this book. So that's one to the good. But I might get it confused with a whitebeam.
The author's writing talents do not measure up to his photography. The text is a chatty travelogue just slightly above the level of a flight magazine.
Some reasons you might want to buy this book. a.) It's pretty. b.) It's a conversation starter. c.) It's very relaxing, non-stressful reading, good to while away idle moments or at bedtime. d.) You live in Great Britain and want to travel around and see some of these trees and their settings. e.) It introduces a little-known aspect of the British countryside.
It is obvious from the author's use of informal Britishisms and various assumptions about what readers know, that he did not expect this book to be read outside Great Britain. Which is an adequate explanation for what I perceive as flaws. I might award four stars if I lived in England.
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