Woodlands

Collins New Naturalist #100

by Oliver Rackham

‘Trees are wildlife just as deer or primroses are wildlife. Each species has its own agenda and its own interactions with human activities …’ Written by one of Britain’s best-known naturalists, Woodlands offers a fascinating new insight into the trees of the British landscape that have filled us with awe and inspiration throughout the centuries. Looking at such diverse evidence as the woods used in buildings and ships, and how woodland has been portrayed in pictures and photographs, Rackham traces British woodland through the ages, from the evolution of wildwood, through man’s effect on the landscape, modern forestry and its legacy, and recent conservation efforts and their effects. In his lively and thoroughly engaging style, Rackham explores woodlands and their history, through names, surveys, mapping and legal documents, archaeology, photographs and works of art, thus offering an utterly compelling insight into British woodlands and how they have come to shape a national obsession.

Genres: Nature, Nonfiction, Natural History, Ecology, Science, History, Reference

480 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Oliver Rackham OBE FBA was an English academic who studied the British countryside, especially trees, woodlands and wood pasture, Rackham wrote a number of books, including The History of the Countryside (1986) and one on Hatfield Forest. He also studied and published extensively on the ecology of Crete, Greece.

In 1998 he was awarded the OBE for "services to Nature Conservation". In 2006 he was appointed Honorary Professor of Historical Ecology in the Department of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge.

He was a Life Fellow of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge and Keeper of the College Records. On 15 October 2007 Rackham was elected Master of Corpus Christi College until 1 October 2008.

Reviews

[Monty Milne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a demanding book for a non-scientist like me and the wealth of detail can be a little overwhelming at times. Nevertheless, it is written with a great deal of verve and elegance as well. The author was clearly a man of wide and deep sympathy and understanding, and this work has deservedly become a classic. How extensive were ancient British woodlands? What did they look like? How did human activities affect them over time - such as royal forests for hunting deer, or oak trees for the Royal Navy? Was the Forestry Commission a good thing or a bad thing? None of the answers to these questions were quite what I was expecting, and I found something curious and enlightening on almost every page. No kind of landscape moves me to quite the same extent as a wooded one (why? is it an ancient folk memory of forest dwelling northern European ancestors?) The knowledge I've gained from this has deepened my emotional engagement with woodlands.

[Ruth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Incredibly detailed and fascinating look at woodlands. Took me months to read, there is a lot of information in there. Ultimately a great document of what we know about woods from ancient times to predictions for the future health of our landscape and ecology.

[Sarak77 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Deer
Squirrels
Conservationists

These are the villains, destroying or misunderstanding British woodland. Or are they? Where I live we have deer squirrels and more bluebell woods than you can shake a stick at. That's the trouble with this book - it's hugely detailed and informative, but there are some surprising omissions. Like Surrey, for instance - England's most wooded county - not worth a mention, except perhaps in passing references to the Weald (High Weald? Low Weald?) It made me wonder what other parts of the country might be missing.

The fact that I didn't recognise "my" woods in the book reinforces the author's point that that each wood is special and different from other woods. The repeated jibes against conservationists seem wrongheaded however. Chapter 17 about environment robustly refutes the idea of acid rain damaging trees and fails to mention climate change at all. I couldn't help but imagine the author as one of those people that thought it would be nice if Britain got a bit warmer. Global warming is acknowledged in the final chapter, where two pages are devoted to it. Deer get three.

[Claudia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a lot more ‘technical’ than I expected.
I read it from beginning to end, but I believe this is possibly not the approach the book was intended for.
Whilst the linear read allowed for an overview of contents for future and deeper examination, the overall effect was, to me, one of confusion and approximation.
It was hard to keep a steady focus and some pages just had to be skipped. I blame this on a personal lack of geographical knowledge and, consequently, the inability to properly visualise the sites described.
I can imagine going back to individual chapters and case studies, either when visiting some of the areas, or reading about individual topics.
The paperback edition’s tiny print, black&white photos and average paper finish also did not help.
This is an odd one: both an introduction and a compendium on a complex subject, according to the readers level of competence. Perhaps better described as an essay collection, a handbook, a commentary, or a field manual. If the latter, at 600 page plus, it will need a rather large and sturdy carry pocket!

[Chris Thorley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I finally finished this after dipping into it for just over a year. Perhaps it wasn't meant to be read cover to cover, and to be used as a reference book but that's what happened. I think it took so long because, due to being very comprehensive, some bits were more interesting than others (and also I had this strange idea that I had to read it inside woodlands). It was definitely very well researched and I learnt a lot about how woodlands and forests work and how they are (or have been) used by people. The part I found particularly interesting was the section on pollen analysis, and what that can tell us about which trees came back when after the ice age, and whether areas were wooded in the past or not. I think most information someone might want to know about woodlands is contained within this book.

[Logan Streondj · Rating 3 out of 5]

While it is extreme thorough overview of British woodlands it completely ignores woodlands as a source of food with the only exceptions being that he mentions prehistoric Britons eating hazelnuts, and the Romans brining chestnuts as a food tree. Otherwise it seems he has tunnel vision and thinks the only use of woodlands is their wood, and aesthetic appeal of the flowers. There is no mention of people eating forest products other than deer after Roman times.
It seems very shocking to me, coming from a Slavic background where we grow many trees, shrubs, and vines for food, but maybe Britons just don't know about that? I don't know, but it's so hard to believe that I had to take off two stars for missing the food aspect of woodlands, which wan indeed main reason I picked up the book.

[Christopherch · Rating 3 out of 5]

Always a bit of a hero to me, Oliver Rackham, and after finally getting around to reading this book, I was disappointed. While a lot of the knowledge here, gleaned from a lifetime with trees and woodlands, and poured into this book, are interesting, and well related, much is what I already knew, and there are just too many inaccuracies and presumptions. Perhaps it’s just a case of a science, which is constantly moving, dynamic and with ideas and beliefs that change and old ones are swept away. That said, about the grey squirrel he is not wrong!

[Dan Carey · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book occupies the dry valley between popular science books and works of scholarship. It depends rather heavily on a knowledge of the geography, terrain, and topography of the British Isles, which I lack. And it can sometimes be hard to tell the point towards which Rackham is driving. So at 18% in, I give up. I'm just not enjoying it.

[Colleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've only been dipping out of this book for 3 1/2 years and I'm finally done! I don't think I can bring myself to read anymore mega tomes from Dr. Rackham. This was an excellent piece of work, but so so dense. Not for the light hearted.

[ctrandall · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting, very informative. It changed the way I see the woods and trees around me when I'm out walking. What more can you ask from a book?

It is a heavy read, though. Be prepared for a slow go through more detail than you will likely ever need.

[Jim]

A proper tome frequently aimed at the specialist but with plenty of fascinating facts and anecdotes to challenge preconceptions. I like an expert who's not afraid to say that he doesn't know something, or that no-one really knows the answer to something. It's the sign of a real thinking brain.

[Peter · Rating 5 out of 5]

A real tome of knowledge on woodlands. A bit of a slog at points but well worth it for the extensive social/ecological history of landscapes

[Peacefulbookery · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting and informative.

[Chelsie Beaudoin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is packed and dense with information on woodlands (mainly in Britain) as a whole and not about trees as individuals. It discusses how trees, woodland plants, animals, and humans have all influenced woodland throughout history as far as we can gather from records and history. Much of the book looks at how humans have influenced woods, how they have related to us, and how we used woods over the years.

[Bryn · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating book exploring the history and nature of English woodland, and considering the state of woodland in the rest of the year. This is a must read for anyone interested in tree and woodland conservation.

Many green people look to tree planting as a way forward (myself included). This book realy made me understand the differences between ancient wood and replanting, and the importance of woodland as a whole environment not just trees. Woodlands have evolved alongside people, and our relationship with them is not simple.

It's a very accesible book - I'm not a scientist, and I was able to read it and I learned a great deal. For students working in this area, and anyone with an interest in tree conservation and planting, this is essential reading and I can't recomend it enough.

[Scott · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like this but I wasn't able to finish it.

The start of the book was fantastic and I learned lots of interesting facts about trees and woodland. However this slowly turned into what I can only describe as the author writing everything here knows about woodland. He goes into great detail about specific woods, and tiny details that I - and i suspect most people - don't care about. I wish he'd pruned the content a little.

I'm sure this book would be of great interest if you need to know lots of tiny details about specific woods. For the general interested reader I wouldn't recommend this. Giving this two stars because the author has a wealth of knowledge.

[Tina · Rating 1 out of 5]

I felt the subject matter was extremely interesting, however upon reading this book I found there were so many factual errors, I gave up reading anymore past page 268 due to the fact I felt I was simply wasting my time on utter rot - for example, in the UK alone tens of thousands of deer are killed by motorists, where did those figures come from?

[Nick · Rating 5 out of 5]

An outstanding piece of work. I can see why they chose this for the 100th edition.

This isn't something you're going to read casually, it took me several months to finish, but if you have an interest in the subject matter it is extremely comprehensive.

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book by this respected author