Due to a passing in the family a few years ago and my subsequent health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for years after the bereavement. Thank you for the opportunity.

It's what you would expect from the title. A history of trees in the UK covering indigenous and non-indigenous species, it's history, how it got it's name and a description of the tree. It's both a useful and beautiful read.

I like learning about trees and nature. This book was really interesting for me and I loved learning more about the history of different trees.

I think this is a wonderful book for a booklover, I can see that as a hardcover it will be wonderful book to peruse and flick through, however, I don't think I got the full benefit of that in the digital version. Still, definitely a book that will make a brilliant gift for any tree lover, lover of facts.

This book is interesting and full of information about trees and their history.. It's well written and engaging.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC

Educational and rather interesting guide to the history of trees within the UK in a handy A-Z format.

The book covers the mythology and folklore of each species of tree in detail, as well covering any associated links with famous individuals from history. Wills decisively separates the fact from the fiction which made a bit of a change since a few titles of this nature I’ve come across tends to let such anecdotes like the one with Washington and the cherry tree go without comment.

While also covering non-indigenous species and how they arrived within the UK, one of the main focuses of the book is how humanity utilised each species of tree for its own benefit throughout time. The author covers a lot of ground in this respect, because, frankly, there is a lot of ground to cover, from whisky barrels to bird baiting, from medicines to weapons of war. It’s quite a buffet of superstition, human ingenuity, and downright stupidity.

While I did have a few quibbles with the book, finding some entries were much shorter than others, as well as too much focus on certain geographical areas, overall, I quite liked this title. It also deserves a special shout out for the dedication alone, it did make me smile.

This was an ARC copy from Netgalley and Pen and Sword Publishing in exchange for an honest review, with thanks.