Packenham has created a new kind of tree book with trees grouped according to their characteristics, with roughly half being ancient native UK trees, the rest exotic newcomers from around the world.
British and Irish giants; American giants; sacred trees; captives; relics and ruins; royals; hedges and adventures; Chinoiserie; towers and temples; snakes; poets and painters; from the East; liberty trees; dotards; mother trees; champions; hydras; homes; mongrels; trees of knowledge; for the hunt; family seats.
Thomas Pakenham is the author of the critically acclaimed THE SCRAMBLE FOR AFRICA which won the W.H. Smith Award and the Alan Paton Award. He is also the author of THE BOER WAR, THE MOUNTAINS OF RASSELAS and THE YEAR OF LIBERTY. He lives in County Westmeath, Ireland and is chairman of the Irish Tree Society. He plants trees both for profit and ornament.
'For sheer impact nothing has equalled Thomas Pakenham's photographs, fierce and ethereal' Simon Jenkins, Book of the Year, Sunday Times 'a marvellous collection of photographs... an eminently readable, intelligent book.' Independent 'a book of translucent beauty...' Sunday Times 'entrancing... utterly beguiling...' Mail on Sunday