‘The oak is the wooden tie between heaven and earth. It is the lynch pin of the British landscape.’ The oak is our most beloved and most common tree. It has roots that stretch back to all the old European cultures but Britain has more ancient oaks than all the other European countries put together. More than half the ancient oaks in the world are in Britain. Many of our ancestors – the Angles, the Saxons, the Norse – came to the British Isles in longships made of oak. For centuries the oak touched every part of a Briton’s life – from cradle to coffin It was oak that made the ‘wooden walls’ of Nelson’s navy, and the navy that allowed Britain to rule the world. Even in the digital Apple age, the real oak has resonance – the word speaks of fortitude, antiquity, pastoralism. ‘The Glorious Life of the Oak’ explores our long relationship with this iconic tree.

Author John Lewis-Stempel Published by Doubleday ISBN 9780857525819 EAN 9780857525819 Bic Code Cover Hardback