Wonderfully subversive, far-reaching and unsentimental

Observer

Richard Mabey is a man for all seasons, most regions and every kind of landscape

- Andrew Motion, Financial Times

An elegant and heartfelt essay on mankind's changing relationship with trees

Sunday Telegraph

Se alle

A leaf-storm of philosophical musings, journeys of mind and body, reflections and anecdotes that imprint the tree on human culture

Sunday Times

A terrific combination of both natural and intellectual history, informed by penetrating insight

Independent

This is the book of range and ambitions that his many admirers hoped he would write. Refreshing, droll, politically alert, occasionally self-mocking, he has the enviable ability both to write historical overview and also to slip into the woods like a dryad, bringing us back to the trees themselves, their colours and lights and textures

Guardian

A writer to cherish

Evening Standard

A characteristically rich and individual mix of history, natural science, folklore, poetry, politics and personal observation... Mabey's writing is a brilliant in its minutely observed detail as in its broad sweeps

- Diane Summers, Financial Times

As always, Mabey's thoughts make compelling reading... This is a book by a man who doesn't just know, but understands trees

Tree News

It's a scientific, historical, poetic account written in a quietly humorous, thoughtful style

- Tom Moriarty, Irish Times

From ash die-back to the Great Storm of 1987 to Dutch elm disease, our much-loved woodlands seem to be under constant threat from a procession of natural challenges. Just when we need trees most, to help combat global warming and to provide places of retreat for us and our wildlife, they seem at greatest peril. But these dangers force us to reconsider the narrative we construct about trees and the roles we press on them.

In this now classic book, Richard Mabey looks at how, for more than a thousand years, we have appropriated and humanised trees, turning them into arboreal pets, status symbols, expressions of fashionable beauty - anything rather than allow them lives of their own. And in the poetic and provocative style he has made his signature, Mabey argues that respecting trees' independence and ancient powers of survival may be the wisest response to their current crises.

Originally published with the title Beechcombings, this updated edition includes a new foreword and afterword by the author.

Les mer
From ash die-back to the Great Storm of 1987, our much-loved woodlands seem to be under constant threat from a procession of natural challenges. The author reveals how we have appropriated and humanised trees, turning them into arboreal pets. She argues that respecting trees' independence may be the wisest response to their current crises.
Les mer
A timely new edition of Richard Mabey's profound and poetic book, Beechcombings, now updated with a new foreword and afterword by the author

Produktdetaljer

ISBN
9780099587231
Publisert
2013-06-06
Utgiver
Vintage Publishing; Vintage
Vekt
212 gr
Høyde
198 mm
Bredde
130 mm
Dybde
19 mm
Aldersnivå
01, P, U, G, 06, 05, 01
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Heftet

Forfatter

Om bidragsyterne

Richard Mabey is the father figure of modern nature writing in the UK. Since 1972 he has written some 40 influential books, including the prize-winning Nature Cure, Gilbert White: a Biography, and Flora Britannica. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and Vice-President of the Open Spaces Society.

He spent the first half of his life amongst the Chiltern beechwoods, and now lives in Norfolk in a house surrounded by ash trees.