Synopsis
Winner of the Jacques Barzun Prize in Cultural History
‘A masterful blend of natural and human history . . . Farmer’s Elderflora aren’t just amazing old organisms, but a backdrop against which human drama, hubris and decency play out.’ – New Scientist
‘Fascinating’ – The Observer
Combining rigorous research with lyrical writing, Elderflora chronicles the complex roles ancient trees have played in the...
Details
23 February 2023448 pages
9781035009046Imprint: Picador
Reviews
Jared Farmer brings both classic and state-of-the-art botany alive . . . he shows singular insight into how we do what we do – and perhaps more importantly – why we spend our lives studying trees.Hope Jahren, author of Lab Girl
While it is true that the trees have no tongues, that doesn’t mean they don’t speak to us . . . Read Jared Farmer’s lucid and fascinating book to discover the . . . mysteries told by elderflora.Michael Mann, author of The New Climate War
Sacred trees . . . are at the root of historian Jared Farmer’s magisterial study of arboreal longevity, but like the outstretched limbs of a luxuriant elm, his narrative extends over a broad range of social and scientific issues.Laurence A. Marschall, Natural History
The book succeeds as a cultural history of the conservation ideal that led society to forest preservation.David W. Stahle, Science
