Ghost Trees: Nature and People in a London Parish

“Lyrical and beautifully evocative … in a language as rich and lilting as the contours of the estuarine land … A delight.” -- Richard Jones * BBC Countryfile magazine * “Ghost Trees will awaken any Londoner to the plants that cling on in the city’s cracks.” * Guardian: Books of the Year * “Informative, enjoyable, enchanting. A book that, in the best sense, educates. It is well written with the occasional alliterative poetic cast. It is a book full of delights which makes one look again, achieving the mystic’s gift of seeing the ordinary as anything but.” -- Kevin Scully * Church Times * “One of the best non-fiction books about London. Bob Gilbert’s gifted style of writing [and] simple, clear but hilarious storytelling helps to make this secret life of trees an unlikely page-turner.” * The Londonist * “Warm, rich and fascinating… [Gilbert] is a generous guide, with a deep knowledge of plant life and a fine turn of phrase.” -- Jon Day * Guardian * Profoundly uplifting: Gilbert’s keen eye reveals the wealth of wild – and weird – species that cling on against the odds in a global city, and enrich its residents’ lives in unheralded ways." * Guardian * Absorbing.” * The Bookseller * “Its tone warm and its content wide-ranging, Ghost Trees spans history and social history, folklore, religion and walking as well as nature – but Gilbert wears his vast knowledge lightly and shares it engagingly and entertainingly.” -- Clare Wadd * Caught by the River * “Ghost Trees is a reflective book, about personal reaction and engagement. Reading it is like spending time with a knowledgeable uncle who is keen to share his enthusiasms.” -- Jeremy Crump * Living Maps * Fascinating.' -- Joe Shute * Sunday Telegraph * ‘Full of deep truths and improbable marvels, this beautifully observed book is a joyous hymn to the urban wild and a clarion call for better – greener, wilder – cities.’ * Patrick Barkham; natural history writer *