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In Trees

When I ask myself how a person should live, this is the advice I now turn to: Learn to branch out like a tree, to let go like a tree, to weather hardship like a tree, to rise above like a tree, to set down roots like a tree. In a scarred and storm-battered world, we couldn’t hope to find wiser teachers.

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, join award-winning, bestselling author Robert Moor to uncover the hidden art of "tree-thinking", a powerful tool to break open humanities 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 human-like 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 in the universe.

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.

A wanderer’s dream, even from an armchair

The Economist, praise for On Trails

About Robert Moor

Details
  • Imprint: Viking
  • ISBN: 9780241808535
  • Length: 352 pages
  • Price: £18.99