Having recently read a book about the American view of wilderness, it was very interesting to get a contemporary British view – and it very much makes me appreciate what I have in my fairly well forested state.
This is an interesting book – if you’re looking for scientific details of Britain’s forest, you won’t find that. What you do get is a cultural landscape of the remnant forests of Britain, and a call to save them. It’s a scattered narrative – taking place over a year where the author seeks out pieces of forests that still survive, though in some cases, barely. His concern for the loss of these places is clear. This is a lovely portrait of something that should not be lost, but is close to being so.