How to Read a Tree

English language

Published June 8, 2023 by Hodder & Stoughton.

ISBN:: 978-1-5293-3959-8

Each tree we meet is filled with signs that reveal secrets about the life of that tree and the landscape we stand in. The clues are easy to spot when you know what to look for, but remain invisible to most people.

In How to Read a Tree, you'll discover the simple principles that explain the shapes and patterns you can see in trees and what they mean. And you'll learn rare skills that can be applied every time you pass a tree, whether you are in a town or a wilder spot.

As the author of the international bestsellers The Walker's Guide and How to Read Water, Tristan Gooley knows how to uncover the phenomena worth looking for. He has been instructing people in the art of reading trees for two decades and this book includes signs that will not be found in any other book in …

Each tree we meet is filled with signs that reveal secrets about the life of that tree and the landscape we stand in. The clues are easy to spot when you know what to look for, but remain invisible to most people.

In How to Read a Tree, you'll discover the simple principles that explain the shapes and patterns you can see in trees and what they mean. And you'll learn rare skills that can be applied every time you pass a tree, whether you are in a town or a wilder spot.

As the author of the international bestsellers The Walker's Guide and How to Read Water, Tristan Gooley knows how to uncover the phenomena worth looking for. He has been instructing people in the art of reading trees for two decades and this book includes signs that will not be found in any other book in the world.

Once you have learned to see these things it is impossible to unsee them. We will never look at a tree the same way again.

3 editions

matthewmincher reviewed How to Read a Tree by Tristan Gooley

If I was a tree, I wouldn't mind being made into this book

5 stars

Oh this was lovely - I picked it up because it had a nice cover :D

What I wasn't expecting was a magical tour de force of how a tree tells its story and presents it for anyone to see - for those who can read it. So many little things I've seen in trees and not thought on, or not realised must have a reason to be so.

It's full of gems of knowledge that in hindsight seem self evident, and as Gooley himself says, once you see it, you will never unsee it, and will appreciate nature on a deeper level. His passion and clear joy in what he does comes through the page and transforms what some might say woud only ever be a dry, academic subject.

I loved how some elements of modern life such as road design or architecture that I assumed …

Oh this was lovely - I picked it up because it had a nice cover :D

What I wasn't expecting was a magical tour de force of how a tree tells its story and presents it for anyone to see - for those who can read it. So many little things I've seen in trees and not thought on, or not realised must have a reason to be so.

It's full of gems of knowledge that in hindsight seem self evident, and as Gooley himself says, once you see it, you will never unsee it, and will appreciate nature on a deeper level. His passion and clear joy in what he does comes through the page and transforms what some might say woud only ever be a dry, academic subject.

I loved how some elements of modern life such as road design or architecture that I assumed were trial and error and human design is just us copying trees.

Trees are the emperors of time

I can't wait for my next long walk.