Description
A NEW YORK TIMES, WASHINGTON POST, AND WALL STREET JOURNAL BESTSELLER • One of the most beloved books of our time: an illuminating account of the forest, and the science that shows us how trees communicate, feel, and live in social networks. After reading this book, a walk in the woods will never be the same again.
“Breaks entirely new ground ... [Peter Wohlleben] has listened to trees and decoded their language. Now he speaks for them.”—The New York Review of Books
NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY BRAINPICKINGS • HONORABLE MENTION: SEJ Rachel Carson Environment Book Award • Shortlisted: Audible International Book of the Year Award • Books For a Better Life Award • Indie Choice Award—Nonfiction Book of the Year
Are trees social beings? In The Hidden Life of Trees forester and author Peter Wohlleben convincingly makes the case that, yes, 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 that he has observed in his woodland.
“A declaration of love and an engrossing primer on trees, brimming with facts and an unashamed awe for nature.”—Washington Post
“Heavily dusted with the glitter of wonderment.”—The New Yorker
Includes a Note From a Forest Scientist by Dr.Suzanne Simard
Published in Partnership with the David Suzuki Institute
Contributor Notes
Peter Wohlleben spent over twenty years working for the forestry commission in Germany before leaving to put his ideas of ecology into practice. He now runs an environmentally-friendly woodland in Germany, where he is working for the return of primeval forests. He is the author of numerous books about the natural world including The Hidden Life of Trees, The Inner Lives of Animals, and The Secret Wisdom of Nature, which together make up his bestselling The Mysteries of Nature Series. He has also written numerous books for children including Can You Hear the Trees Talking? and Peter and the Tree Children.
Tim Flannery is a scientist, explorer and conservationist. He is a leading writer on climate change and his books include Atmosphere of Hope and The Weather Makers.
Jane Billinghurst’s career has been in book publishing in the UK, the US, and Canada, as an editor, publisher, writer, and translator. She is the translator of the New York Times-bestseller The Hidden Life of Trees by German forester Peter Wohlleben.
Editorial Review
“Warmly avuncular, storybook simple, and heavily dusted with the glitter of wonderment.”
—The New Yorker
“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.”
—Sally McGrane, The New York Times
“This fascinating book will intrigue readers who love a walk through the woods.”
—Publishers Weekly
“If you read this book, I believe that forests will become magical places for you, too.”
—Tim Flannery
“In this spirited exploration, [Wohlleben] guarantees that readers will never look at these life forms in quite the same way again.”
—Library Journal
“A paradigm-smashing chronicle of joyous entanglement that will make you joyously acknowledge your own entanglement in the ancient and ever-new web of being.”
—Charles Foster, author of Being a Beast: Adventures Across the Species Divide
“Soon after we begin to recognize trees for what they are—gigantic beings thriving against incredible odds for hundreds of years—we naturally come to ask, 'How do they do it?' This charming book tells how—not as a lecture, more like a warm conversation with a favorite friend.”
—Hope Jahren, author of Lab Girl
“A powerful reminder to slow down and tune into the language of nature.”
—Rachel Sussman, author of The Oldest Living Things in the World
“Charming, provocative, fascinating. In the tradition of Jean-Henri Fabre and other great naturalist story-tellers, Wohlleben relates imaginative, enthralling tales of ecology.”
—David George Haskell, author of The Forest Unseen, Pulitzer finalist
“Wohlleben’s book is at once romantic and scientific, beautifully articulating his personal relationship with the trees he has dedicated his life to. His view of the forest calls on us all to reevaluate our relationships with the plant world.”
—Daniel Chamovitz, PhD, author of What a Plant Knows
“With colorful and engaging descriptions of little-known phenomena in our natural world, Wohlleben helps readers appreciate the exciting processes at work in the forests around them.”
—Dr. Richard Karban, University of California, Davis, author of Plant Sensing and Communication
“You will never look at a tree the same way after reading Peter Wohlleben’s The Hidden Life of Trees, which reveals the mind-boggling properties and behavior of these terrestrial giants. Read this electrifying book, then go out and hug a tree—with admiration and gratitude.”
—David Suzuki
