From the New York Times bestselling author comes a wondrous, curious journey through the wilds of nature and the gnarls of history, exploring how trees – from the mightiest sequoia to the tiniest bonsai – can teach us to grow wise. One day, on a whim, Robert Moor set out to climb a tree near his home, unwittingly embarking on what would become a decade-long, globe-spanning adventure in trees. From Darwin to Attenborough, Brecht to Wordsworth, cutting-edge scientists and Zen monks and Bonsai artists, In Trees explores the fundamental and meaningful role of trees in the natural world. From Ethiopia and Papua to the Sierra Nevada mountains and the Lake District, bestselling author Robert Moor uncovers the hidden art of ‘tree-thinking’, a powerful tool for approaching humanity’s oldest questions: What is the secret to growing old well? How do we set down deeper roots in an increasingly chaotic world? And most importantly, how should we – as individuals, as communities, as stewards of the Earth – live? Weaving together history, ecology, philosophy, neuroscience, mythology, literature, and the abstract qualities of identity, belonging and memory, In Trees shares extraordinary stories of how trees have become embedded in our culture, lifestyle and imagination for centuries, becoming the key to almost everything on our planet. What began as an ode to the miracle of trees blossoms into a joyous, daring, fiercely hopeful endeavour that reveals . . . To truly grasp the wisdom of a tree, you need to begin thinking like one.
Robert Moor's brilliant In Trees is –– like its subject –– powerfully, fascinatingly arborescent: it branches and roots, gnarls and delves. Moving from sky to earth, Robert Moor unfurls in fine-grained prose the ancient, urgent story of how trees transform us. Reading it, I felt my senses of time, life and process shift in ways I hadn't experienced before. It left me arboresced." -- Robert Macfarlane, author of IS A RIVER ALIVE? Widely branched and deeply rooted, In Trees is a deeply thoughtful exploration of how we unrooted humans value- and devalue- our arboreal relations. With adventurous journeys, lively storytelling and provocative reflection, Moor invites us along to know charismatic forests through the eyes of other worldviews, encouraging our own Green Revelation to guide us through these urgent times.” -- Robin Wall Kimmerer, author of BRAIDING SWEETGRASS Robert Moor is a rare and luminous talent, and In Trees is his best work to date...To read this book is to feel oneself anchored more firmly to the earth and, simultaneously, to become more open to life‘s many branching, wild possibilities. -- Ferris Jabr, author of BECOMING EARTH Those who loved On Trails are rewarded for their patience with this new book, another in that rare category of 'classic upon publication.' I've lived out my life in places with far more trees than people, and this volume helps me understand why. -- Bill McKibben, author of THE END OF NATURE In Trees is dazzlingly erudite, playful, profound, adventurous and, above all, eloquently, fiercely alive. Full of brilliant, mind-bending insights and wonderful surprises, this is the most life-affirming book I’ve read in a long time -- John Vaillant, author of FIRE WEATHER A profound and loving, shrewd and funny pilgrimage, in which trees are living things but also verbs and ways of life. Moor finds so much beauty, and so much historical rubbish to clear away, in this bold, wild search to understand how he should live. -- Larissa MacFarquhar, author of STRANGERS DROWNING A wanderer’s dream, even from an armchair * The Economist, praise for On Trails * Moor writes about one subject as a way of touching on 100 others… He’s a philosopher on foot * The Wall Street Journal, praise for On Trails * A marvellous debut * The Telegraph, Best Travel Books of 2016, praise for On Trails *
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