In the Circle of Ancient Trees: Our Oldest Trees and the Stories They Tell

by Valerie Trouet

Beautifully packaged to make the perfect gift, this captivating book about dendrochronology—the study of tree rings—uncovers the stories of 10 species of ancient trees, their unique environments and climates, and what they have to tell us about the history of our world.

Ingrained and encrypted in the growth rings of every tree are stories of its environment and the events to which it bore witness. In the Circle of Ancient Trees presents the stories of ten ancient tree varieties in engrossing chapters written by ecologists with specialist knowledge. From the Bosnian pine to the giant sequoia, from the United States, to Europe, to South America, these essays explore how human and environmental history share common roots, while drilling down into the ecology, persistence, and resilience of trees.

Beautifully designed, and illustrated with wood-engravings and graphics that visualize each tree’s chronology and geography, In the Circle of Ancient Trees considers what lessons for our future might be discovered in our planet’s past.

Genres: Nature, Nonfiction

224 pages, Hardcover

Published October 14, 2025

About the author

Prof. dr. Valerie Trouet bestudeert al meer dan twintig jaar de klimaatverandering aan de hand van jaarringen van bomen. Wereldwijd wordt ze erkend als een van de topexperts op het vlak van dendrochronologie. Ze is verbonden aan het Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research van de University of Arizona (VS) en publiceerde eerder onder meer in Nature en Science.

Reviews

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a wonderful book that blended science with a more human and spiritual dimension. I enjoyed reading the diverse perspectives of researchers from different backgrounds each studying the same concept but with a different focal species. While some of the overlap in stories felt repetitive at times, overall I greatly enjoyed this book. Those not coming from a scientific background may need to be willing to look up a few things that aren’t well-explained, but hopefully this is an enjoyable learning experience to dive deeper into a fascinating, cross-disciplinary topic.

[Mackenzie Calhoun]

I judged this book by its cover (it’s gorgeous) and was not disappointed. I learned so much about dendochronology and I liked to learn about each of the tree species, only a few of which I was already familiar with. It helps that I am in Earth Science and this is a keen interest of mine. It came up a bunch in my life too-excited for my next read, 2025 slump was real!

[Clayton Ellis · Rating 3 out of 5]

The cover and title are beautiful. I like the concept of dendrochronology. But I was hoping to have something more… that I would fall in love with and just pick up and wrap myself around a book about trees. It wasn’t quite like that unfortunately.

[Shazza Maddog · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a beautiful book and the art is stunning but the language was a bit over my head. I DNF at the second chapter.