A few years ago, award-winning scientist Richard Fortey purchased four acres of woodland in the Chiltern Hills of Oxfordshire, England. The Wood for the Trees is the joyful, lyrical portrait of what he found there.
With one chapter for each month, we move through the seasons: tree felling in January, moth hunting in June, finding golden mushrooms in September. Fortey, along with the occasional expert friend, investigates the forest top to bottom, discovering a new species and explaining the myriad connections that tie us to nature and nature to itself. His textured, evocative prose and gentle humor illuminate the epic story of a small forest. But he doesn't stop at mere observation. The Wood for the Trees uses the forest as a springboard back through time, full of rich and unexpected tales of the people, plants, and animals that once called the land home. With Fortey's help, we come to see a universe in miniature
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“Narrator Michael Page’s precise, stately, and almost courtly British accent perfectly suits Fortey’s observations….Page encapsulates the author’s slightly professorial but enthusiastic tone—liberally sprinkled with sly humor…It’s all absolutely charming…Listen and be inspired to go outside and explore. Winner of the AudioFile Earphones Award.”
— AudioFile
“Excellent…A fine playground for [Fortey’s] characteristic blend of wide-ranging curiosity, deft observation, and deep research.”
— Wall Street Journal“Fascinating…Fortey creates an astounding portrait of multilayered life in one relatively restricted space…[and] conveys unforgettably the staggering variety and abundance of the whole natural world.”
— New York Times Book Review"[Fortey’s] remarkable scientific knowledge, intense curiosity, and love of nature mean entries erupt with the same richness and variety as the woods they describe.”
— Guardian (London)Be the first to write a review about this audiobook!
Richard Fortey was a senior paleontologist at the Natural History Museum in London. He was Collier Professor in the Public Understanding of Science and Technology at the Institute for Advanced Studies at the University of Bristol in 2002. In 2003, he won the Lewis Thomas Prize for Writing about Science.
Michael Page has been recording audiobooks since 1984 and has over two hundred titles to his credit. He has won numerous Earphones Awards and the prestigious Audie Award for best narration. As a professional actor, he has performed regularly since 1998 with the Peterborough Players in Peterborough, New Hampshire. He is a professor of theater at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan.