This book is highly recommended not just for tree lovers, but nature lovers who want to lose themselves in the scent and sights of the physical world. His down-to-earth voice and consummate respect for the topic puts this among the best nature writers and I’ve read many. I left this book wishing I could walk through a forest with Tristan Gooley and absorb his passion and love for this majestic part of nature.

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The entire book was a joy to read and both information dense and effortless/fun. There are moments of profundity throughout. Wherever you are – city or wilderness – if you want to understand the secrets of trees you pass, this is the book to read…Tristan has the rare gift of explaining the most complex ideas with humour and deep insight.’ – Peter Thomas, Emeritus Reader in Plant Ecology at Keele University, author of Trees Rapid SARS-CoV-2 whole-genome sequencing and analysis for informed public health decision-making in the Netherlands. external icon

In How to Read a Tree, Gooley uncovers the clues hiding in plain sight: in a tree’s branches and leaves; its bark, buds, and flowers; even its stump. Leaves with a pale, central streak mean that water is nearby. Young, low-growing branches show that a tree is struggling. And reddish or purple bark signals new growth. New York Times–bestselling author Tristan Gooley opens our eyes to the secret language of trees—and the natural wonders they reveal all around us You will never look at a tree in the same way again after reading this mesmerising book. Gooley drops learning as lightly as blossom falls in spring.’– John Lewis-Stempel Trees are keen to tell us so much. They’ll tell us about the land, the water, the people, the animals, the weather, and time. And they will tell us about their lives, the good bits and bad. Trees tell a story, but only to those who know how to read it. Will undoubtedly leave you with a deeper appreciation of trees…your country walks will never be quite the same again’ – Daily Mail

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All plants are sensitive to disturbance. If the land is ravaged by storms, fire, water, human clearance or heavy use, certain trees give up on it for long periods, while others are happy to start again as soon as the drama is over. The following families are keen colonisers, springing up in disturbed areas – if you see lots of young ones, it is a sign of a major disturbance: willows, alders, larches, birches, hawthorns. One of the best books I have ever read - I can no longer look passively at a tree without Mr Gooley's insight coursing through my brain - this is a good thing! Nature is so much more involved and interconnected than most people ever begin to think. I would highly recommend this book to all who wish to learn more about the world around them, especially if you love trees (you will love them even more after this book!) Open Access This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial License (All of these trees are pioneers, the hares, winning in the short run, but most will be gone within a century, having been replaced by the climax tortoises. This means they form a particular sort of map. They hint at motion and upheaval and tell us of a recent major change in the landscape. We should look for the cause. It was a lightbulb moment! I thought I knew my local woods – I walk there almost every day. But it’s a thrill to see it through fresh eyes, to develop a much deeper understanding.’– Peter Gibbs, Chair of BBC Gardeners’ Question Time The Rise of Resistant Ringworm: Genomic Sequencing Confirms the First Two Reported U.S. Cases of Trichophyton indotineae Lombardy poplars are often planted in a line that marks the edge of a property, village or farm. They are so easy to recognise once you know them, standing taller than the other trees in the landscape, with thin branches that reach for the sky. With practice it becomes instinctive to spot their forms, and I regularly use them to identify the location of a hidden village. The Lombardy is a member of the water-loving poplar family, so it is often a double clue: civilisation next to water. It is so satisfying when we connect the dots in a landscape. The other day I set myself the challenge of descending a Sussex hill and finding a village, using only the trees for guidance. At the foothills of the northern scarp, I found ashes thriving in the rich, moist soil; a little further on willows lined a stream. The water led me to the village, and I knew I had arrived when the horizon was broken by a proud line of Lombardy poplars.