A celebration of the British elm and positive hope for its future. Since the 1970s nearly all elms in the British Isles have proven to be susceptible to outbreaks of Dutch elm disease, with millions of trees lost. However, the elm was not lost forever. Among all this sudden death and destruction, unnoticed by many, some elms survived the onslaught. This is the story of their recovery. The authors provide a first-person narrative throughout with contributions from leading figures in the story of the elm, and detail the history of the elm in culture, folklore, art and literature, and the many different varieties of elm growing today in the British Isles. Illustrated throughout with stunning photography of these beautiful trees by Sam Ford, in this book the authors have created a pictorial and historical record of the elm and offer hope for its future.
Mark Seddon is a journalist and a former foreign correspondent, who also worked for the United Nations as a speechwriter to UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon.
David Shreeve MBE co-founded The Conservation Foundation in 1982 with David Bellamy and was an environmental adviser to the Church of England.