Out of the Woods

by Will Cohu

Out of the Woods is an affectionate, convivial introduction to Britain's trees, in which Will Cohu takes you on a revelatory ramble through country and city - from woodlands of majestic oak and ash, via alder-clad lay-bys, to mean streets lined with cherries. .Out of the Woods takes you on a revelatory ramble through country and city - from woodlands of majestic oak and ash to mean streets lined with cherries.Containing myriad tips for recognition and rich in tree-biography and gossip, this book will enable you to tell your birch from your beech as you pass at 70mph, and will inspire even the most unreformed couch potato to pull on the wellies and brave the local park in search of the national treasures scattered all around us.

Genres: Nature, Nonfiction, Natural History

240 pages, Paperback

First published September 6, 2007

About the author

Will Cohu was born in Yorkshire in 1964. Educated at Exeter College, Oxford, from 1992 he freelanced as writer, editor and journalist, mostly for the Daily Telegraph. His books include Urban Dog (2001) and Out of the Woods (2007). He has been twice short-listed for the Sunday Times EFG Private Bank Award. His memoir, The Wolf Pit, was published in 2012 and shortlisted for the PEN/Ackerley Prize. He lives in Lincolnshire.

Reviews

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

A different approach to trees, not for the tree naive as the descriptions are more about the trees’ characters than anything, and the pictures are nice but definitely don’t help. The language is fun, but does sometimes veer off into blokey banter territory. I loke the way the chapters flowed into each other & a focus on urban trees (& local council “management”). I did not expect the final two chapters & i’m still a bit undecided about them.
Loses a star for incorrect assumptions about trees & Orkney (not “the Orkneys”)

[Joanne Upton · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found I was looking at trees differently whilst reading this book. It was very informative and has inspired me to keep learning more about trees. The only thing that annoyed me, and it's not the first time I have come across this in a nature book written by a man, is how they compare looking at trees, or birds, to looking at women. He describes a beech as a 'lads mag' type and makes references to Ann summers! I wish could read these sorts of books as a woman and feel more included, not as though it's only for men to read.

[Stuart Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful and Evocative writings about trees. Including things you never knew but feel better for knowing. Some fine illustrations as well.

[Anthony Lipmann · Rating 3 out of 5]

No, not Stephen Sondheim's musical take on Grimm's faery tales ('Into the Woods') but a user's guide to trees. And I do not mean this caninely. Who would have thought that you could be funny, witty and interesting about bark, leaves and trunks? Well, here is the answer. You will never pass a tree again without lifting a mental leg in appreciation.

[Pema Brunet · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book as a motivator to continue with learning about trees. I was well written, had interesting facts but was over-descriptive without any pictures which such a book needs if it is going to cross over into identification. It is not an i.d. guide but an armchair book but will appeal to those academics slumped in armchairs as it has a revision quiz after most sections. It talks about ways to remember trees through key points but again, without pictures or photos for visual learners this narrows the scope of an otherwise very good book. It also covers trees around the world and a little of the history behind their appearance in our domestic domain.

[Josephine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this to begin with, although the format got a little samey and so many trees were covered I started to get confused. I appreciated the unusual descriptive passages about the trees and agree that many don't fit the pristine format of a guidebook - maybe you need this book and a guide book as well to compare. I enjoyed the chapters on wood for fires, and the one on pollarding and keeping trees neat and exact for our 'city' lives.

[Ainsley · Rating 4 out of 5]

A truly enjoyable book combining masses of interesting facts, both scientific and historical, richly intertwined with bits of folklore and lovely descriptive prose. A great incentive to simply open your eyes when next out walking or driving. It is rare to find a book which manages to convey so much information in such an entertaining way.

[Reg Howard · Rating 2 out of 5]

Why is it that cookery books and children's books can be lavishly illustrated and a picture can paint a thousand words, but 'serious' paperbacks have to rely on a few photos stuck in a section that you have to keep annoyingly flick through to, and which do not do justice to the breadth of the text?

[Sarak77 · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author's stated intention is to fill an gap in the tree book market and he largely succeeds. The book is informative and fun to read, with amusing revision quizzes at the end of every chapter, although a few footnotes and some more illustrations wouldn't go amiss.

[Sue · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting concept. Was pleased to realise how much I already knew about trees and equally disconcerted to find out how much I don’t know about trees ! It’s made me view trees in a whole new light.

[Nicky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cosy read about trees and how to identify them. The trees that I know were easy to identify with the descriptions but would find it hard to identify newer ones as I wouldn't remember the names. Well written and a clever different take on books about trees.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved the approach used in this book and the descriptions of trees

[Nick · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nice idea, nice cover, but sadly, not very interesting.

[Gareth Culshaw · Rating 4 out of 5]

brilliant book to get you started on knowing trees....

[Brian Robbins · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book achieved what it set out to do, to be a very deliberately amateur, nature taster's, "armchair guide to trees". I found much of it of interest, particularly the earlier chapters on native trees. There were useful identification points e.g. the likeness of a bare sycamore to the structure of a cauliflower. I found the later chapters on urban planted trees less good - too much of a rapid whistle-stop tour of a great variety of non-native and cultivated varieties.

I used to enjoy some of the old 30s "nature" books picked up in second hand shops which fulfilled this same roll, and it is on these that Cohu seems to model his style - the imaginary walks through landscapes to be introduced to the various species & the many interesting facts presented about them.

The style of illustration, each done in 4 colours, woodcut style, backed up the adopted style. The assumed "amateur" presentation was also backed up by details e.g. the hints of construction lines left around the title lettering on the frront cover.

Overall an enjoyable book.

[Drew Pyke · Rating 2 out of 5]

Looked forward to this book for the potential of learning all the trees in our British countryside. I was disappointed because the identification techniques were very vague and in some cases confusing. It would be easier to get an ID book and references the images instead. He did try with the use of a walk-in-the-wild narrative to weave the trees into some form of sequence, but it never worked (would be easier to group them into families maybe or trees of similarity). The saving grace was the last chapter in his didactic on oxygen-breathing, carbon-dioxide storing, non-methane producing organisms.

[Andrew Cox · Rating 3 out of 5]

An easy, interesting & enjoyable introduction to trees. I suspect I saw Will Cohu give a lecture which was basically the outline for this book as I felt a familiarity with this book, as if I had read it before, although I don't think I have.

At times it is a little basic, but of course it is an armchair guide with no expectation from its audience of prior knowledge. I am sure a walk in the woods with Will Cohu would be an absolute delight.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

A gentle wander through a series of metaphorical woodlands.

It is not an in depth book, by any means, but it is pleasant read none the less. The book covers all native and most non native trees that you could come across whilst strolling through different places where trees live.

Didn't quite get the quizzes all the way through, but loved the pictures in the books.

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely poetic descriptions throughout but with a lack of imagery I kept becoming distracted into looking up just exactly what these trees looked like. The illustrations that are in the book though are perfect - a woodcut/print style giving enough of an idea without being too literal. It Just needed more of these (or a companion webpage...?)

[Mew · Rating 4 out of 5]

This isn't a "how to" guide to spotting trees - it's better than that. I loved the poetic meanderings through the British countryside (and towns) noticing and observing trees and their behaviours. Beautiful.