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
15 February 2024448 pages
9781035009060Imprint: 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
