What is the spirit embraced in the woods and in the wood of trees?  What makes each species unique and each forest an inspiration to those who visit or live within them?  Reading this book we become deeply conscious of all things wood including artists, poets, and writers who invoke wood and trees as their sources of inner energy and livelihood. Each tree has texture, color, shape, specific usefulness, and ecological place. Trees endure beyond lifetimes, imbuing a sense of history, permanence, and vitality.

The author, a renowned British ecologist, writer, broadcaster, and filmmaker absorbs the world with all his senses, has a gift with words, and is truly a Renaissance Man invoking a wealth of knowledge from a multitude of interests and sources. He recounts his introduction to the woods and ecology as a schoolboy.  His science teachers used the nearby environment as an immersion classroom for the students. Exploration, observation, record keeping, and drawing over many years were all part of the process of freewheeling learning and living in nature with the other students.  This experience provided the roots for keen observation and joy in sharing with others his love for mankind’s source of life.  This portion of the book reminded me of Richard Louv’s book,“Last Child in the Woods, Saving Our Children form Nature Deficit Disorder.”  Clearly Deakin did not suffer such a deficiency and his childhood experience became the essence of his being. His mentors gave him a special gift that is sorely lacking in our world today.

This tale of trees is a travel journal taking the reader along on an extended trek through woods of England, Wales, around Eastern Europe, and as far away as Australia. We learn about the ecology of different forests, meet poets and artists, engage with people who make a living using wood, and converse with those who reside in isolated places with the trees. The native trees root the stories in each location.  There are always detailed and wonderful descriptions of the environment, sometimes beautiful, sometimes harsh, sometimes despoiled and saddened by war and misuse. We are treated to meeting characters who have deep connections to wood and trees and emerge with a curiosity to learn more and to travel again.  Regrettably most of us do not have the observational skills, the sense of adventure, the money, or time to explore the world Deakin’s way. Fortunately we have his book for vivid armchair immersion through prose.

Even more important, we are invited to look at our world of trees with a renewed sense of appreciation for all their spiritual and ecological contributions. Our senses are heightened as we absorb the words and then immerse ourselves in our own natural spaces. You will not take our natural world for granted or in simplistic terms after taking Deakin’s  journey through trees.