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| A Natural History of Trees: of Eastern and Central North America | 
| Author: Donald Peattie
Creators: Paul H. Landacre, Robert Finch
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Category: Book
List Price: $21.00
Buy Used: $15.72
You Save: $5.28 (25%)
Avg. Customer Rating:  6 reviews
Sales Rank: 588127
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 606
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.9
Dimensions (in): 9 x 6.1 x 1.5
ISBN: 0395581745
Dewey Decimal Number: 582.160975
UPC: 046442581745
EAN: 9780395581742
ASIN: 0395581745
Publication Date: June 27, 1991
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Satisfaction Guaranteed. SAME DAY SHIPPING.
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Product Description
One of two genuine classics of American nature writing now in paperback; the other is A Natural History of Western Trees.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 1 more reviews...
Roots: A Biography of Trees June 19, 2006
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
What an extraordinary book. You might not think it possible, but this book about trees reads like fine literature. It is full of stories, legends, and facts about these giants in the earth, not to mention the author's interesting ruminations. Here's a sample of Peattie's writing on the bur oak, after the pages devoted to its Latin name, range, characteristics, and the like: "[W]hen we are gone the rippling fox squirrels and the jeering crows will not remember us; the big dull yellow leaves of the Bur Oaks will cover the paths of our autumns. But these same trees will see our children and our children's children, and look to them the mansions that they are."
Wonderful stuff. In addition to all this the book is chockablock with anecdotes of specific trees and their histories, and how our forefathers and the American Indian viewed the various types of trees. Tree lover or not, you'll enjoy this book.
Clearly the best overall book on trees... July 3, 2002
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
This book and its companion volume, "A Natural History of Western Trees," are by far the most detailed accounts of the trees of North America. It's truly too bad the author didn't have the chance to complete the third book in this series: "Southern Trees." Never have I read a richer, more lovingly or enthusiastically written description of trees. Aside from being packed with facts, the books offer a glimpse of man's interaction with trees and teaches one how to interact with them and respect them. The author's enthusiasm is contagious!
A great book for tree lovers February 12, 2002
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
This is a great book for tree lovers.Though not very good for identification(one of the field guides would be better for that),this is an excellent book for the reader who has already learned to identify the various trees and now wants to learn something about them.The short,non-technical articles cover a host of topics,from botany and historical reports to the author's personal acquaintance with the various trees discussed.
Fantastic!!Fantastic!!Fantastic!! September 18, 2001
16 out of 16 found this review helpful
A Natural History of Trees is a compilation of a rich resource of material on native U.S. Trees. While you'll do better with a Peterson's Field Guide for identification, I don't think you'll find more fun.Grouped by Family(beginning with Pines and ending with the Ashes) the stories are king here. Just pick your favorite tree and sit back and enjoy. The history of the White Pine, for example, seems almost mythic in its sheer height and size back in colonial days. It very well helped build near most of colonial America, too! From White Pine to White Oak to Redbud to Sycamore, this is a fascinating and informative read. There is an index of both scientific and common names, plus a glossary and a section called Keys to Species and Genera (which is much easier to decode with a Peterson's Guide at hand). Also recommended, Petrerson's Field Guide to Eastern Trees(ISBN: 0395904552) and National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Trees(ISBN: 0394507606) for IDing and Trees in my Forest(ISBN: 0060929421) and the Man Who Planted Trees(ISBN: 1570625387) for more great stories.
The essential reference June 17, 2000
8 out of 10 found this review helpful
This is the essential book for anyone who cares for the trees and forests of the USA. The writer has a talent, unmatched as far as I know, to spin a tale on trees, bringing to life not only the trees of North America but also the people who walked among them.It also is an essential book for anyone interested in the history of the USA. Fittingly the book starts off with a description of white pine and the birth of what is now the USA. In short anyone who claims to care for trees or to be interested in how the USA came to be and who is not familiar with the contents of this book is in serious danger of appearing to be a charlatan. [Quality of the reprint could be better; actually this book deserves to be in hardcover. However, the quality of the reprint could also be a lot worse, or -horrible thought!- the book might go out of print altogether]
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Wildlife, nature and the Environment
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