Description

Sunday Times Bestseller
‘A paradigm-smashing chronicle of joyous entanglement’ Charles Foster

Waterstones Non-Fiction Book of the Month (September)

Are trees social beings? How do trees live? Do they feel pain or have awareness of their surroundings?

In The Hidden Life of Trees Peter Wohlleben makes the case that the forest is a social network. He draws on groundbreaking scientific discoveries to describe how trees are like human families: tree parents live together with their children, communicate with them, support them as they grow, share nutrients with those who are sick or struggling, and even warn each other of impending dangers. Wohlleben also shares his deep love of woods and forests, explaining the amazing processes of life, death and regeneration he has observed in his woodland.

A walk in the woods will never be the same again.

Publisher Review

`Marvellous' John Banville, Irish Times `The Hidden Life of Trees is a wonderful, provocative book that draws together half a century of much-neglected and misunderstood plant science and frames it within field observations by an acute and empathetic forester.' New Statesman `The matter-of-fact Mr. Wohlleben has delighted readers and talk-show audiences alike with the news long known to biologists that trees in the forest are social beings.' The New York Times `Peter Wohlleben's The Hidden Life of Trees breaks entirely new ground ... [Wohlleben] has listened to trees and decoded their language. Now he speaks for them.' Thomas Pakenham, New York Review of Books `A declaration of love and an engrossing primer on trees, brimming with facts and an unashamed awe for nature.' Washington Post `A magical book about fixtures that we walk by every day and take for granted ... The Hidden Life of Trees may be the most important environmental book of the year.' San Francisco Chronicle