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The Man Who Climbs Trees
This is the story of a professional British tree climber, cameraman and adventurer, who has made a career out of travelling the world, filming wildlife for the BBC and climbing trees.
James’s climbs take him around the globe, scaling the most incredible and majestic trees in existence: the strangler fig tree of Borneo, the monolithic Congolese moabi tree, the fern-covered howler tree of Costa Rica and the colossal mountain ash of Australia. On the way he meets native tribes and jungle cats, he gets stung by African bees and chased by gorillas, and he spends his nights in a hammock pitched hundreds of feet up in the air, with only the stars above him.
This book blends incredible stories of his adventures in the branches and a fascination with the majesty of trees to show us the joy of rising – literally – above the daily grind, up into the canopy of the forest.
'The wide horizontal branches stretched away from me to curl up like the giant fingers of an enormous cupped hand. I slid back into the centre of its protective palm and waited for my heart to slow. After a while the small herd of fallow deer I had been following emerged from the trees, carefully picking their way through the churned-up leaf litter to pass beneath me in the wake of the ponies. They had been there all along and I was immediately struck that not one of them appeared to have seen or smelt me as I crouched in the arms of the oak directly above.'
James’s climbs take him around the globe, scaling the most incredible and majestic trees in existence: the strangler fig tree of Borneo, the monolithic Congolese moabi tree, the fern-covered howler tree of Costa Rica and the colossal mountain ash of Australia. On the way he meets native tribes and jungle cats, he gets stung by African bees and chased by gorillas, and he spends his nights in a hammock pitched hundreds of feet up in the air, with only the stars above him.
This book blends incredible stories of his adventures in the branches and a fascination with the majesty of trees to show us the joy of rising – literally – above the daily grind, up into the canopy of the forest.
'The wide horizontal branches stretched away from me to curl up like the giant fingers of an enormous cupped hand. I slid back into the centre of its protective palm and waited for my heart to slow. After a while the small herd of fallow deer I had been following emerged from the trees, carefully picking their way through the churned-up leaf litter to pass beneath me in the wake of the ponies. They had been there all along and I was immediately struck that not one of them appeared to have seen or smelt me as I crouched in the arms of the oak directly above.'
304 pages, Hardcover
First published August 24, 2017
63 people are currently reading
1405 people want to read
About the author
James Aldred
12 books10 followersJames Aldred is an EMMY award-winning cameraman, adventurer and professional tree climber who has made a career out of travelling the world, filming wildlife for the BBC and climbing trees
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 99 reviews
August 10, 2022
I truly enjoyed accompanying James Aldred on his adventures climbing trees all over the world. He maintained a sense of adventure, enthusiasm and joy throughout, which was infectious. This book is wonderfully narrated by Samuel Roukin. I often forgot that he was reading someone else's story.
A fascinating fact I learned while reading: "I understood why Indigenous tribes still dress so minimally in the jungle, European clothes become a grungy breeding ground for bacteria and quickly fall apart."
An example of lovely descriptive writing: "The forest looked astonishingly beautiful from up here, a shadowland of misty blues and pale greens. The three-quarter moon was low in the west and its light slanted in through the canopy to dapple the scene with silver."
Aldred marvels "that a fragile little wisp of life no bigger than a toothpick can grow into one of the great trees of the world and the Atlas Cedar truly is one of the great trees of the world. It certainly is one of the most beautiful."
From the Epilogue:
"As long as the trees still stand it seems there is hope. As I've suggested before, trees are often the constant by which we measure the passing of years and the events of our own lives. We project our own memories on them and looking down through the branches now I can still see my grandfather, my father and me standing there looking up."
I smiled at his through-the-window encounter with Queen Elizabeth II while climbing her favorite London Plane tree that was planted by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert!
A fascinating fact I learned while reading: "I understood why Indigenous tribes still dress so minimally in the jungle, European clothes become a grungy breeding ground for bacteria and quickly fall apart."
An example of lovely descriptive writing: "The forest looked astonishingly beautiful from up here, a shadowland of misty blues and pale greens. The three-quarter moon was low in the west and its light slanted in through the canopy to dapple the scene with silver."
Aldred marvels "that a fragile little wisp of life no bigger than a toothpick can grow into one of the great trees of the world and the Atlas Cedar truly is one of the great trees of the world. It certainly is one of the most beautiful."
From the Epilogue:
"As long as the trees still stand it seems there is hope. As I've suggested before, trees are often the constant by which we measure the passing of years and the events of our own lives. We project our own memories on them and looking down through the branches now I can still see my grandfather, my father and me standing there looking up."
I smiled at his through-the-window encounter with Queen Elizabeth II while climbing her favorite London Plane tree that was planted by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert!
September 23, 2017
As a tree surgeon, I'm rating this my favourite book of the year. The author shares with us some of his adventures while climbing trees, either for pleasure or while rigging cameras and filming for BBC and National Geographic.
These are no ordinary trees. The tale combines tree knowledge and mountaineering as James shoots a catapult - in extreme cases a crossbow - to carry a fishing line over the first branch, 170 ft in the air. The falling weighted line is then used to pull up a rope, nylon in the early pages, Kevlar by the end. The climber then uses his harness, clamps and karabiners to hoist himself manually. After that he can start to climb. Taking note of bark features, flowers, fruit or nuts, insects, spiders, bird life, iguanas and the rather large harpy eagle who sees him as a threat to her nest.
The trees and locations are a pollarded oak in the New Forest, England; sequoia in the New Forest; strangler fig in Borneo; dipterocarp in Borneo; fig tree in Congo; hardwoods in Costa Rica; Brazil nut in Peru; eucalyptus called mountain ash in Australia; ozouga hardwood in Gabon; ironwood in Papua; kapok in Venezuela; Atlas cedar in Morocco; back to the New Forest.
This gentleman has undoubtedly been extremely lucky to be paid to do all this travel and climbing. But we have also been lucky and need to thank him and the other naturalist crew, for the sensational shots of chimps, gorillas, hornbills, snakes, orang-utans, harpies and orchids, high in canopies where no ground-based watcher could study them. And the patterns of canopies themselves, the immense amount of knowledge gained by scientists taught to climb in this way. James has of course suffered for his art. I will gloss over the pestilences, stings and injuries, but he doesn't.
James also notes changes. Bush fires killing entire forests, which regenerate. Ebola killing entire gorilla populations, which don't. Climate change killing cedar forests in Morocco which don't have anywhere higher and cooler to provide a retreat. Loggers and illegal loggers massacring tropical hardwoods. Yet he ends on a note of hope, that young people are now aware of the need to protect the trees they enjoy or climb.
Thanks very much James for bringing me with you on this journey. I love the detailed descriptions. No photos? That is the biggest lack. I'd also query why the book is presented blog style, with no indent and a blank line between paragraphs, though the paragraphs are a reasonable length. This does come across as unprofessional formatting when seen in a book.
Well done from a woman who climbs trees.
I downloaded an ARC from Net Galley. This is an unbiased review.
These are no ordinary trees. The tale combines tree knowledge and mountaineering as James shoots a catapult - in extreme cases a crossbow - to carry a fishing line over the first branch, 170 ft in the air. The falling weighted line is then used to pull up a rope, nylon in the early pages, Kevlar by the end. The climber then uses his harness, clamps and karabiners to hoist himself manually. After that he can start to climb. Taking note of bark features, flowers, fruit or nuts, insects, spiders, bird life, iguanas and the rather large harpy eagle who sees him as a threat to her nest.
The trees and locations are a pollarded oak in the New Forest, England; sequoia in the New Forest; strangler fig in Borneo; dipterocarp in Borneo; fig tree in Congo; hardwoods in Costa Rica; Brazil nut in Peru; eucalyptus called mountain ash in Australia; ozouga hardwood in Gabon; ironwood in Papua; kapok in Venezuela; Atlas cedar in Morocco; back to the New Forest.
This gentleman has undoubtedly been extremely lucky to be paid to do all this travel and climbing. But we have also been lucky and need to thank him and the other naturalist crew, for the sensational shots of chimps, gorillas, hornbills, snakes, orang-utans, harpies and orchids, high in canopies where no ground-based watcher could study them. And the patterns of canopies themselves, the immense amount of knowledge gained by scientists taught to climb in this way. James has of course suffered for his art. I will gloss over the pestilences, stings and injuries, but he doesn't.
James also notes changes. Bush fires killing entire forests, which regenerate. Ebola killing entire gorilla populations, which don't. Climate change killing cedar forests in Morocco which don't have anywhere higher and cooler to provide a retreat. Loggers and illegal loggers massacring tropical hardwoods. Yet he ends on a note of hope, that young people are now aware of the need to protect the trees they enjoy or climb.
Thanks very much James for bringing me with you on this journey. I love the detailed descriptions. No photos? That is the biggest lack. I'd also query why the book is presented blog style, with no indent and a blank line between paragraphs, though the paragraphs are a reasonable length. This does come across as unprofessional formatting when seen in a book.
Well done from a woman who climbs trees.
I downloaded an ARC from Net Galley. This is an unbiased review.
April 23, 2019
The book description is perfect, but it doesn't evoke the depth of the story. Aldred's adventures in the trees were incredible & he makes it clear how much & why he loves it. Climbing trees isn't for everyone, especially not in the environments where he's been. The sights he's seen, the dangers endured, & the mistakes he's made are fantastic.
The sights are great. I recognized several of the trees from other books. I've always been more interested in them from a woodworker's point of view, never really thought about climbing them or what could be seen within them. He tells of entire worlds, unseen by most of us. Of course, to get there sometimes means enduring travels into remote locations, bad food, worse weather, & dangerous wildlife. Jungles suck to spend any time in & I can't imagine climbing by myself in them, but he did. I hadn't thought there was much worse than a bad case of crotch rot until he started describing the maggots that were erupting from his skin. Imagine climbing a tree armored against the attack of an eagle that you can't allow yourself to hurt. He did that not just once, but twice!
I've always realized that a lot of work goes into filming nature. I've taken a lot of pictures without ever coming close to getting a great shot, but Aldred takes this to a whole new level when he describes the weeks of preparation that went into a 20 second shot of David Attenborough. Incredible! Much of the book was like that.
My edition was very well narrated by an English voice actor. He fit the voice to the part perfectly. Highly recommended in any format, though.
The sights are great. I recognized several of the trees from other books. I've always been more interested in them from a woodworker's point of view, never really thought about climbing them or what could be seen within them. He tells of entire worlds, unseen by most of us. Of course, to get there sometimes means enduring travels into remote locations, bad food, worse weather, & dangerous wildlife. Jungles suck to spend any time in & I can't imagine climbing by myself in them, but he did. I hadn't thought there was much worse than a bad case of crotch rot until he started describing the maggots that were erupting from his skin. Imagine climbing a tree armored against the attack of an eagle that you can't allow yourself to hurt. He did that not just once, but twice!
I've always realized that a lot of work goes into filming nature. I've taken a lot of pictures without ever coming close to getting a great shot, but Aldred takes this to a whole new level when he describes the weeks of preparation that went into a 20 second shot of David Attenborough. Incredible! Much of the book was like that.
My edition was very well narrated by an English voice actor. He fit the voice to the part perfectly. Highly recommended in any format, though.
March 12, 2021
Very good book, about, well, you guessed it. Aldred started climbing trees when he was 16, got good at it, started getting jobs as support crew for wildlife and travel documentaries, and has led an interesting life ever since. The review that led me to read the book was Jim's, https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... -- so why don't you read that first, and I'll add some more tidbits from my notes. Aldred is a fine storyteller, and has some great stories. And some horror-shows too, mostly involving trips to tropical rainforests:
● Lots of unpleasant biting insects -- including botflies, the ones who lay their eggs under your skin. The maggots hatch, gradually work their way out, you get really sick. He got cerebral malaria too, and was med-evaced back to England, with a 42°C (107.5°F) fever. Good thing he was young & strong!
● A bad African honeybee attack in an Atlantic forest in Gabon. 40+ stings! "I was not in a good way."
● A Harpy Eagle mom, defending her chick in Venezuela, beat up the author on his climb, and gave him a bad stab wound on his neck, just missing the jugular. This was for a "critter-cam" for the nest, intended for a BBC documentary.
And of course, good times too, as when Korowai tribesmen in Papua built a traditional treehouse in a giant ironwood for the BBC. They were equipped with one steel axe, one steel machete, and many stone axes -- which were surprisingly efficient for cutting "small stuff" for the treehouse, and clearing brush around the tree. The Korowai were efficient too, worked hard, and the Brits liked them. The book ending in Morocco, where the author spent some time on holiday with his Dad, camped out in a big Atlas cedar.
So, if you like an old-fashioned travelogue, or are curious about how some of the natural-history documentaries are made, this is the book for you. Strong 4 stars. High marks!
● Lots of unpleasant biting insects -- including botflies, the ones who lay their eggs under your skin. The maggots hatch, gradually work their way out, you get really sick. He got cerebral malaria too, and was med-evaced back to England, with a 42°C (107.5°F) fever. Good thing he was young & strong!
● A bad African honeybee attack in an Atlantic forest in Gabon. 40+ stings! "I was not in a good way."
● A Harpy Eagle mom, defending her chick in Venezuela, beat up the author on his climb, and gave him a bad stab wound on his neck, just missing the jugular. This was for a "critter-cam" for the nest, intended for a BBC documentary.
And of course, good times too, as when Korowai tribesmen in Papua built a traditional treehouse in a giant ironwood for the BBC. They were equipped with one steel axe, one steel machete, and many stone axes -- which were surprisingly efficient for cutting "small stuff" for the treehouse, and clearing brush around the tree. The Korowai were efficient too, worked hard, and the Brits liked them. The book ending in Morocco, where the author spent some time on holiday with his Dad, camped out in a big Atlas cedar.
So, if you like an old-fashioned travelogue, or are curious about how some of the natural-history documentaries are made, this is the book for you. Strong 4 stars. High marks!
July 3, 2018
The Man Who Climbs Trees or as I like to call it "How much does nature hate James Aldred?" Two things blew my mind in this book, the scale of some of these trees and how many times James came close to being killed by wildlife. The scene with the bees was stunning, how he got out of that situation shows just how tough he was. I once got stung on the foot by a bee and was limping for ages, not sure how I would handle a swarm attacking me whilst dangling in a tree.
I loved how the book is laid out, you're thrown right into a scene with James' first desperate climb to safety and you see something click in his head and the obsession begins. Him climbing trees must be destiny as he meets the right people and gets the start in a wonderful career rigging ropes into trees for documentaries, eventually recording video too.
The writing is very good, James' love of trees really comes across with each tree he picks to climb, the book is essentially tree after tree but somehow each tree's personality is captured and this keeps your interest going. One thing the book is missing is photo's I read it on the kindle and there were none, I found his website which has some interesting stuff and makes a great addition to the reading experience.
A really exciting nature read.
Blog review is here> https://felcherman.wordpress.com/2018...
I loved how the book is laid out, you're thrown right into a scene with James' first desperate climb to safety and you see something click in his head and the obsession begins. Him climbing trees must be destiny as he meets the right people and gets the start in a wonderful career rigging ropes into trees for documentaries, eventually recording video too.
The writing is very good, James' love of trees really comes across with each tree he picks to climb, the book is essentially tree after tree but somehow each tree's personality is captured and this keeps your interest going. One thing the book is missing is photo's I read it on the kindle and there were none, I found his website which has some interesting stuff and makes a great addition to the reading experience.
A really exciting nature read.
Blog review is here> https://felcherman.wordpress.com/2018...
April 1, 2023
Fascinating, delightful book about a fascinating, delightful individual who is - quite obviously - out of his fucking mind.
Indeed, I had to create a new bookshelf called "crazy sumbitches" just for people like him and spelunker James Tabor (author of Blind Descent), and all those other admirably insane cave divers and rock climbers and miscellaneous thrill-seekers/adrenaline junkies like mountaineer Chris Bonnington, test pilot Chuck Yeager, tiger hunter Jim Corbett and explorers Percy Fawcett and Richard Burton…*
But Aldred's apparent death wish aside, this is a beautifully written paean to la vie naturelle, in particular life among some of the planets oldest and most majestic creations. As with most such non-fiction audiobooks, I combined this with the physical book as well so that I could enjoy the far-too-few photographs, and was also frequently checking Google images for pictures of Britain's ancient yews, Morocco's Atlas cedars, and Borneo's towering dipterocarps, among others. Along the way, I also learned surprising details about where Brazil nuts come from (they're clumped together inside enormous pods, and - until we human idiots just dry the shit out of them - the individual nuts can be peeled like an orange, and have a texture like fresh coconut - see below); as well as what it's like to be attacked by a harpy eagle while dangling 150 feet above the ground...and WAY more than I ever wanted to know about being infected with botfly maggots, (NOT shown, and Google at your own risk).
Great stuff.
** Of course, this bookshelf also contains some more legitimately certifiable whackjobs like Yukio Mishima, George Carlin, Edmund Backhouse, "White Rajah" James Brook, and dino-warriors Edward Drinker Cope and Othniel Charles Marsh - each also legendary in their uniquely fucked-up ways...
Indeed, I had to create a new bookshelf called "crazy sumbitches" just for people like him and spelunker James Tabor (author of Blind Descent), and all those other admirably insane cave divers and rock climbers and miscellaneous thrill-seekers/adrenaline junkies like mountaineer Chris Bonnington, test pilot Chuck Yeager, tiger hunter Jim Corbett and explorers Percy Fawcett and Richard Burton…*
But Aldred's apparent death wish aside, this is a beautifully written paean to la vie naturelle, in particular life among some of the planets oldest and most majestic creations. As with most such non-fiction audiobooks, I combined this with the physical book as well so that I could enjoy the far-too-few photographs, and was also frequently checking Google images for pictures of Britain's ancient yews, Morocco's Atlas cedars, and Borneo's towering dipterocarps, among others. Along the way, I also learned surprising details about where Brazil nuts come from (they're clumped together inside enormous pods, and - until we human idiots just dry the shit out of them - the individual nuts can be peeled like an orange, and have a texture like fresh coconut - see below); as well as what it's like to be attacked by a harpy eagle while dangling 150 feet above the ground...and WAY more than I ever wanted to know about being infected with botfly maggots, (NOT shown, and Google at your own risk).
Great stuff.
** Of course, this bookshelf also contains some more legitimately certifiable whackjobs like Yukio Mishima, George Carlin, Edmund Backhouse, "White Rajah" James Brook, and dino-warriors Edward Drinker Cope and Othniel Charles Marsh - each also legendary in their uniquely fucked-up ways...
June 2, 2018
It has been a long while since I climbed a tree, but in my childhood, I spent a fair amount of time climbing and occasionally falling out of trees. There were one or two that were particularly good to climb or hide in and several that we tried and failed at. To reach the top of a small tree felt like an achievement, even though the heights weren't that high, it felt like you were on the top of the world. James Aldred began the same way, climbing trees in the New Forest until at the age of 17 he went with two friends to ascend using rigging and climbing gear to climb a tree where the lower branches were totally out of reach from the ground. At this point, he was hooked and knew what he wanted to do.
Now he climbs trees that are over 150fit high using high tech equipment, taking up cameras and assisting the wildlife cameramen for the BBC and others that are looking to film what goes on up in the canopies of the global forests. With some other expert climbers, he has ascended one of the highest trees in the world, peeking above the treeline around 300 feet up. The risks are enormous, one mistake and it is all over, but it is a job that he loves with a passion. It has taken him to forest all around the world, he has seen animals that have enthralled and amazed him, slept out under the stars many times, been bitten alive by all manner of insects and in on very scary moment was attacked by a harpy eagle. He wouldn't change it for the world though.
Aldred has been very fortunate to work with some of the very best in the wildlife film industry and the stories that he tells in this book will enthral and entertain you. I am not too bad with heights, but some of the trees Aldred climbs are quite staggering, though the thought of sleeping in the canopy, very securely strapped in, of course, does appeal quite a lot. It is a book that can be categorised in a few ways, but definitely, a book that is worth reading.
Now he climbs trees that are over 150fit high using high tech equipment, taking up cameras and assisting the wildlife cameramen for the BBC and others that are looking to film what goes on up in the canopies of the global forests. With some other expert climbers, he has ascended one of the highest trees in the world, peeking above the treeline around 300 feet up. The risks are enormous, one mistake and it is all over, but it is a job that he loves with a passion. It has taken him to forest all around the world, he has seen animals that have enthralled and amazed him, slept out under the stars many times, been bitten alive by all manner of insects and in on very scary moment was attacked by a harpy eagle. He wouldn't change it for the world though.
Aldred has been very fortunate to work with some of the very best in the wildlife film industry and the stories that he tells in this book will enthral and entertain you. I am not too bad with heights, but some of the trees Aldred climbs are quite staggering, though the thought of sleeping in the canopy, very securely strapped in, of course, does appeal quite a lot. It is a book that can be categorised in a few ways, but definitely, a book that is worth reading.
October 15, 2017
This would have been a fabulous book as a coffee-table-sized glossy photo book with images to enhance the stories behind them. But as a pure text book - well, there are only so many times you can read the story of how someone climbed a tree (unless you're a tree surgeon or arborist, in which case you'll probably find the author's stories fascinating).
August 25, 2018
“I climbed my first big tree with ropes when I was sixteen. The intervening years have raced past in a tangle of branches and foliage, and I must have climbed enough trees to fill an entire forest by now. But although many have blurred together, there are others that rise above the fog of memory.”
James Aldred is a professional British tree climber and cameraman, who has worked for the BBC and National Geographic. He is also a heck of a writer and storyteller. As he take the reader around the world, facing challenge after challenge, scaling, monolithic tree after monolithic tree, the reader is breathless with wonder and suspense. Aldred is also smart and informative, with a deep love of nature and conservation.
This is a world, I knew very little about: Life, high in the canopy of these massive trees, where a family of gorillas are feasting, over a 150 ft in the air, barely glancing at the author, as he tethered to the trunk.
I love the outdoors and I love trees, but I have no interest in climbing them. I will leave this to others and will continue to enjoy the stories they tell.
Highly recommended.
James Aldred is a professional British tree climber and cameraman, who has worked for the BBC and National Geographic. He is also a heck of a writer and storyteller. As he take the reader around the world, facing challenge after challenge, scaling, monolithic tree after monolithic tree, the reader is breathless with wonder and suspense. Aldred is also smart and informative, with a deep love of nature and conservation.
This is a world, I knew very little about: Life, high in the canopy of these massive trees, where a family of gorillas are feasting, over a 150 ft in the air, barely glancing at the author, as he tethered to the trunk.
I love the outdoors and I love trees, but I have no interest in climbing them. I will leave this to others and will continue to enjoy the stories they tell.
Highly recommended.
March 5, 2023
Loved every bit of this. I’ve always felt a connection with trees and this made me feel very validated. It was also mind-blowing to read about some of the trees and wildlife out there. Low key wanna contact the author and learn how to climb trees🌲🌳
April 11, 2022
This was a very nice read, thankfully focusing on the joys and beauty of the job without including enough of nature’s harsh reality to make me stop reading (predator-prey prevents overly empathetic me from watching nature shows). Harsh reality is mostly focused on the author, poor guy! But again, not so much to turn the book into misery porn.
So, yeah, a very nice read.
So, yeah, a very nice read.
January 8, 2019
Library Biography #31
I feel most people have fond memories of being a child and climbing trees. Or maybe attempting to climb trees. When I saw this book sitting on the shelf at the library, something about it spoke to me - I couldn't resist it.
James Aldred takes us all over the world to different jungles and forests, describing his adventures climbing trees along the way. Aldred is able to create such imagery in his descriptions that one cannot help but feel right there in the branches with him. His memoir contains ten different locations and stories that are special to him - I'm sure he has many more fascinating stories. Those that he shared are something that I will carry for a lifetime - from his boil infestation to his harpy eagle attack.
The book was decently paced so that it was not too fast and not too slow - very enjoyable.
I will admit that I never thought of anyone sleeping in a hammock in the middle of a tree before I read about Aldred's account. I wish I would have tried!
Some quotes for thought:
"Some trees have a personality, and I've climbed plenty that have been a pleasure from start to finish. I've also been thwarted by just as many - trees that didn't seem to want a human anywhere near them. I've no idea why some trees are like this, they just are. And rather like people, appearances can be deceptive: it's not always the obvious ones that turn out to be the trickiest."
"Five hundred years was a long time to live in these mountains, and my brief visit would barely register on the timeline of this cedar's life. But that's one of the alluring things about trees, isn't it? They seem almost eternal figures of reference in the landscape, reminding us to make the most of every passing day in our all-too-brief lives."
I feel most people have fond memories of being a child and climbing trees. Or maybe attempting to climb trees. When I saw this book sitting on the shelf at the library, something about it spoke to me - I couldn't resist it.
James Aldred takes us all over the world to different jungles and forests, describing his adventures climbing trees along the way. Aldred is able to create such imagery in his descriptions that one cannot help but feel right there in the branches with him. His memoir contains ten different locations and stories that are special to him - I'm sure he has many more fascinating stories. Those that he shared are something that I will carry for a lifetime - from his boil infestation to his harpy eagle attack.
The book was decently paced so that it was not too fast and not too slow - very enjoyable.
I will admit that I never thought of anyone sleeping in a hammock in the middle of a tree before I read about Aldred's account. I wish I would have tried!
Some quotes for thought:
"Some trees have a personality, and I've climbed plenty that have been a pleasure from start to finish. I've also been thwarted by just as many - trees that didn't seem to want a human anywhere near them. I've no idea why some trees are like this, they just are. And rather like people, appearances can be deceptive: it's not always the obvious ones that turn out to be the trickiest."
"Five hundred years was a long time to live in these mountains, and my brief visit would barely register on the timeline of this cedar's life. But that's one of the alluring things about trees, isn't it? They seem almost eternal figures of reference in the landscape, reminding us to make the most of every passing day in our all-too-brief lives."
October 26, 2022
I meant to read the man who plants trees and accidentally checked out this book from the library instead misreading the title. No regrets, this book was incredible, wild deep jungle tales
July 14, 2023
I think this is the best book I've ever read - was gripped the whole way in a way I've not had with a book in a really long time :) amazing story and amazing author
October 14, 2024
surprisingly very gruesome
June 16, 2018
James Aldred was a wildlife cameraman for the BBC and National Geographic. He spent his working life high up in trees filming the lives of wild animals and birds.
"Trees are poems that the earth writes upon the sky."--Kahlil Gibran, Sand and Foam
In chapter one, he describes climbing a tree called Goliath in England. I never thought of a giant tree in England. Humans have a way of destroying all living big things.
In chapter two, he climbs a tree in the Borneo rain forest. They call it "tumparak" which means thunder because he had to remain up there during a lightning storm. Between insects and weather, I could never do something like this.
The lowest branch on this tree is above ground at the height of England's Goliath. It is known as a strangler fig tree. It grows around another large tree and strangles it to death. The dead tree was once a 250-foot hardwood tree. The figs at the top of the new tree provide food for many animals. I was surprised to see so many orangutans up that high.
Here are orangutans in fig trees: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgZT5...
Chapter three is from 1999 in the Congo where he encounters chimps at the Goualougo Triangle. They were special because they had no contact with people. Once again a fig tree is critical to the survival of species. Its limbs twisted through neighboring trees until they melded together. Chimps can kill a man, but these animals seemed only curious.
Here is a story about trying to save those chimps: https://www.cnn.com/2012/02/29/world/...
He then goes to Odzala National Park with its high densities of gorillas and elephants. He uses a liana vine to climb a moabi tree. Ants crawl all over his skin. Later black flies lay eggs in his flesh. And leopards mean all primates have to sleep in a tree.
The moabi tree: http://wwf.panda.org/knowledge_hub/wh...
Finally, he meets Apollo the silverback gorilla. Years later ebola will kill 130 of the 143 known gorillas there.
In Chapter 4 in 2001 he visits The Tree of Life in Costa Rica and helping David Attenborough get into the canopy. Every square inch is teaming with life. The rain is far more than is necessary for life.
He encounters howler monkeys. The males are black with white testicles:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxzbq...
He finds a hognosed pit viper in his helmet:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGmGl...
A cockroach drinks saliva from his open mouth. That one got to me.
David Attenborough: "It's up in the canopy, a hundred or more feet above ground, that the real richness of the forest lies."
Chapter 5 is in 2003 at the Castana or Brazil Nut Tree in the Amazonian rain forest of Peru. The entire Amazon has more trees than the total number of humans that have ever lived. Horrible descriptions of insect attacks.
The lovable agouti:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDXPm...
Chapter 6 he visits a tree he calls Roaring Meg in Australia. The mountain ash is the second tallest species of tree on earth. They average over 300 feet in height. They live in a fire-climax ecosystem. Fires wipe out the trees but dry their seedpods. Then the fast-growing new trees begin their lives.
Chapter 7 is the Ebana tree in Gabon. Aldred disturbs an African bee's nest and gets attacked while he is 70 feet above ground. He somehow manages to get back to earth.
Here is some info about the tree:
http://www.tropicaltimber.info/specie...
Chapter 8 is the Kayu Besi tree in Papua, New Guinea, with the Korowai people. In one day, they cut down two acres of trees for housing using stone tools.
In Chapter 9 he goes up a Fortaleza tree in Venezuela to film a harpy eagle's nest. Here are some videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T55Vj...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_jMg...
The final chapter is about the Atlas cedar in Morocco. It has had a serious decline, mostly due to climate change.
Here it is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZH1h...
"Trees are poems that the earth writes upon the sky."--Kahlil Gibran, Sand and Foam
In chapter one, he describes climbing a tree called Goliath in England. I never thought of a giant tree in England. Humans have a way of destroying all living big things.
In chapter two, he climbs a tree in the Borneo rain forest. They call it "tumparak" which means thunder because he had to remain up there during a lightning storm. Between insects and weather, I could never do something like this.
The lowest branch on this tree is above ground at the height of England's Goliath. It is known as a strangler fig tree. It grows around another large tree and strangles it to death. The dead tree was once a 250-foot hardwood tree. The figs at the top of the new tree provide food for many animals. I was surprised to see so many orangutans up that high.
Here are orangutans in fig trees: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgZT5...
Chapter three is from 1999 in the Congo where he encounters chimps at the Goualougo Triangle. They were special because they had no contact with people. Once again a fig tree is critical to the survival of species. Its limbs twisted through neighboring trees until they melded together. Chimps can kill a man, but these animals seemed only curious.
Here is a story about trying to save those chimps: https://www.cnn.com/2012/02/29/world/...
He then goes to Odzala National Park with its high densities of gorillas and elephants. He uses a liana vine to climb a moabi tree. Ants crawl all over his skin. Later black flies lay eggs in his flesh. And leopards mean all primates have to sleep in a tree.
The moabi tree: http://wwf.panda.org/knowledge_hub/wh...
Finally, he meets Apollo the silverback gorilla. Years later ebola will kill 130 of the 143 known gorillas there.
In Chapter 4 in 2001 he visits The Tree of Life in Costa Rica and helping David Attenborough get into the canopy. Every square inch is teaming with life. The rain is far more than is necessary for life.
He encounters howler monkeys. The males are black with white testicles:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxzbq...
He finds a hognosed pit viper in his helmet:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGmGl...
A cockroach drinks saliva from his open mouth. That one got to me.
David Attenborough: "It's up in the canopy, a hundred or more feet above ground, that the real richness of the forest lies."
Chapter 5 is in 2003 at the Castana or Brazil Nut Tree in the Amazonian rain forest of Peru. The entire Amazon has more trees than the total number of humans that have ever lived. Horrible descriptions of insect attacks.
The lovable agouti:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDXPm...
Chapter 6 he visits a tree he calls Roaring Meg in Australia. The mountain ash is the second tallest species of tree on earth. They average over 300 feet in height. They live in a fire-climax ecosystem. Fires wipe out the trees but dry their seedpods. Then the fast-growing new trees begin their lives.
Chapter 7 is the Ebana tree in Gabon. Aldred disturbs an African bee's nest and gets attacked while he is 70 feet above ground. He somehow manages to get back to earth.
Here is some info about the tree:
http://www.tropicaltimber.info/specie...
Chapter 8 is the Kayu Besi tree in Papua, New Guinea, with the Korowai people. In one day, they cut down two acres of trees for housing using stone tools.
In Chapter 9 he goes up a Fortaleza tree in Venezuela to film a harpy eagle's nest. Here are some videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T55Vj...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_jMg...
The final chapter is about the Atlas cedar in Morocco. It has had a serious decline, mostly due to climate change.
Here it is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZH1h...
February 8, 2018
THE MAN WHO CLIMBS TREES by James Aldred A Penguin Book
Review by Ian Smith
Here is a man who works as a freelance cameraman for no less organizations than National Geographic and BBC, including Sir David Attenborough. Wow, couldn’t wait to open it and see the pictures…oh, there aren’t any. My disappointment slowly waned however, the more I got into the book. By the time I was half way I couldn’t have cared less.
Some of the descriptive phrases and selection of adjectives had me drooling; here was someone who understands just how good the English language can be if used with imagination. Also, being a nature photographer myself there was so much I could relate to, but James’ experiences go way beyond what we mere mortals can ever hope to achieve and he puts you right there beside him.
He’s found several ways to die or suffer acute pain that we could only have nightmares about. Being bitten by a pit viper or leopard, eaten by over 90 bot fly larvae all at the same time, suffering cerebral malaria, getting hit on the head by 2kg of falling brazil nut pod and being stung by the most poisonous insect, a bullet ant. Some of these things did happen, others were uncomfortably close.
I’d seen a poor young bird, not yet out of the nest, being eaten alive by bot fly larvae on television once. It remains the most gruesome thing I’ve ever seen on the screen and to think James had 90 of them chomping away under his skin. Aaaargh!
Climbing trees is a serious and demanding business and James doesn’t hold back on the problems he’s had to confront. Imagine carting a crossbow and all your equipment 150-200 ft up a tree so that you can fire a fishing line at another tree just under 100 metres away, then let it slowly fall to someone on the ground at the second tree before pulling a wire back up over to your position. It may take over a week in steamy tropical jungles that average 13 feet of rain per annum merely to find the right tree. It took him 10 days to set up for one of the memorable Attenborough bytes.
I was over the moon when the world’s tallest flowering plant, eucalyptus regnans, got a nod when he was in Australia. The tallest example of all (in Tasmania), mentioned in the book, is called Centurion. Less people have seen it than have climbed Everest and I feel beyond privileged that I am numbered among them and know just how thrilling it can be to walk among giants.
James however, climbs them of course, and he visited our shores to spend over 24 hours on one they labelled Roaring Meg in the forests of Victoria. He and the Aussie crew reached 285 feet on this giant that sadly perished in the massive bushfires a year later.
In Venezuela he was viciously attacked by rare harpy eagles, the female around 10kg with talons 12 cms long. Saved mainly by having a police riot helmet and Kevlar mostly wrapped around him he still escaped death by millimetres when one strike got between his gear and narrowly missed a crucial artery. Having been hit by a wedge tailed eagle without protection I felt I could relate a little bit to that experience.
Other journeys to exotic places like Gabon, the Atlas Mountains and with Korowai warriors in Papua are all documented here in enthralling prose and, if you’re into nature, adventure or just good writing, this book is a must on your shelf.
Review by Ian Smith
Here is a man who works as a freelance cameraman for no less organizations than National Geographic and BBC, including Sir David Attenborough. Wow, couldn’t wait to open it and see the pictures…oh, there aren’t any. My disappointment slowly waned however, the more I got into the book. By the time I was half way I couldn’t have cared less.
Some of the descriptive phrases and selection of adjectives had me drooling; here was someone who understands just how good the English language can be if used with imagination. Also, being a nature photographer myself there was so much I could relate to, but James’ experiences go way beyond what we mere mortals can ever hope to achieve and he puts you right there beside him.
He’s found several ways to die or suffer acute pain that we could only have nightmares about. Being bitten by a pit viper or leopard, eaten by over 90 bot fly larvae all at the same time, suffering cerebral malaria, getting hit on the head by 2kg of falling brazil nut pod and being stung by the most poisonous insect, a bullet ant. Some of these things did happen, others were uncomfortably close.
I’d seen a poor young bird, not yet out of the nest, being eaten alive by bot fly larvae on television once. It remains the most gruesome thing I’ve ever seen on the screen and to think James had 90 of them chomping away under his skin. Aaaargh!
Climbing trees is a serious and demanding business and James doesn’t hold back on the problems he’s had to confront. Imagine carting a crossbow and all your equipment 150-200 ft up a tree so that you can fire a fishing line at another tree just under 100 metres away, then let it slowly fall to someone on the ground at the second tree before pulling a wire back up over to your position. It may take over a week in steamy tropical jungles that average 13 feet of rain per annum merely to find the right tree. It took him 10 days to set up for one of the memorable Attenborough bytes.
I was over the moon when the world’s tallest flowering plant, eucalyptus regnans, got a nod when he was in Australia. The tallest example of all (in Tasmania), mentioned in the book, is called Centurion. Less people have seen it than have climbed Everest and I feel beyond privileged that I am numbered among them and know just how thrilling it can be to walk among giants.
James however, climbs them of course, and he visited our shores to spend over 24 hours on one they labelled Roaring Meg in the forests of Victoria. He and the Aussie crew reached 285 feet on this giant that sadly perished in the massive bushfires a year later.
In Venezuela he was viciously attacked by rare harpy eagles, the female around 10kg with talons 12 cms long. Saved mainly by having a police riot helmet and Kevlar mostly wrapped around him he still escaped death by millimetres when one strike got between his gear and narrowly missed a crucial artery. Having been hit by a wedge tailed eagle without protection I felt I could relate a little bit to that experience.
Other journeys to exotic places like Gabon, the Atlas Mountains and with Korowai warriors in Papua are all documented here in enthralling prose and, if you’re into nature, adventure or just good writing, this book is a must on your shelf.
May 3, 2018
A delightful book from someone who is passionate about trees, the animals who live in them, and their forests.
April 13, 2018
This was a charming little read, detailing some of the most memorable experiences author James Aldred has had climbing trees across his personal and professional life. As one might expect given the rather specific subject matter there is a fair amount of repetition here, with most of the 10 chapters taking a highly formulaic route. Focusing on a particular tree or area in which Aldred was working as a cameraman/rigger for the likes of the BBC or National Geographic, Aldred gives a bit of background before launching into an account of his experience whilst there. The colourful, vibrant images of the arboreal setting painted by his words are often juxtaposed with some no less vivid recounting of various misfortunes befalling him (caution to the squeamish and those with distinct entomophobia...).
Whilst I enjoyed this read a fair amount, I can't help but feel that this work would have benefited enormously from the inclusion of drawings and pictures. Considering the eminently visual nature of the stories told, I can only imagine how much more striking the impact would have been on the reader, and the stories that much more appreciable, from such provision. Especially for readers who might struggle to picture the scale of the trees Aldred is describing. In fact whilst reading, I often took the time to search for images of the trees and rainforests mentioned. This is of course, always an option for readers, but having high quality photographs provided rather than having to trawl and guess what the author might be talking about would have certainly elevated my own enjoyment of the book.
In summary, I think that whilst this book initially fascinating with some thrilling, action-packed accounts, it is ultimately let down by the repetitive nature of these stories, with Aldred's evocative descriptions not doing quite enough to alleviate this. Speaking for myself, I would have enjoyed greater exploration into the author's thoughts on the relationship between humans and trees (as touched upon briefly in his experiences with the Korowai tribe), as well as further reflection on how his own life (outside of climbing trees) has been shaped by his passion. However to include these might have made for a much more autobiographical work, something that the author may have been consciously trying to avoid - a decision I can respect.
Whilst I enjoyed this read a fair amount, I can't help but feel that this work would have benefited enormously from the inclusion of drawings and pictures. Considering the eminently visual nature of the stories told, I can only imagine how much more striking the impact would have been on the reader, and the stories that much more appreciable, from such provision. Especially for readers who might struggle to picture the scale of the trees Aldred is describing. In fact whilst reading, I often took the time to search for images of the trees and rainforests mentioned. This is of course, always an option for readers, but having high quality photographs provided rather than having to trawl and guess what the author might be talking about would have certainly elevated my own enjoyment of the book.
In summary, I think that whilst this book initially fascinating with some thrilling, action-packed accounts, it is ultimately let down by the repetitive nature of these stories, with Aldred's evocative descriptions not doing quite enough to alleviate this. Speaking for myself, I would have enjoyed greater exploration into the author's thoughts on the relationship between humans and trees (as touched upon briefly in his experiences with the Korowai tribe), as well as further reflection on how his own life (outside of climbing trees) has been shaped by his passion. However to include these might have made for a much more autobiographical work, something that the author may have been consciously trying to avoid - a decision I can respect.
August 29, 2017
It was a delight to read The Man Who Climbs Trees by James Aldred. It is not only full of information but also beautifully written and absolutely fascinating. If you have ever wondered how wildlife/nature books are filmed this book has the answers.
James Aldred, a professional tree climber, wildlife cameraman, and adventurer, explains how he discovered that trees are places of refuge as well as providing unique vantage points to view the world. Trees enthral him, right from the time he first climbed into the canopy of an oak tree in the New Forest. Climbing trees gives him peace within himself and with the world around him. Since he first began climbing trees he has travelled the world climbing many of the world’s tallest trees, filming for the BBC and National Geographic magazine.
It’s incredibly dangerous work. It’s not only the difficulties of climbing some of the world’s tallest trees, but also dealing with extreme weather, attacks from animals, birds and a variety of insects. Perhaps the most horrifying was a sinister rash that appeared all over his body when he was in the Congo. This rash developed into ninety red angry boils, several of them on his head. Then he was woken by something moving beneath the skin of his scalp, squirming and wriggling around; the pain was unbearable. Each boil was home to spine-covered maggots that bot-flies, large black flies with bulbous red eyes, had laid under his skin! He ended up in hospital with cerebral malaria.
I have always loved trees but I’ll never look at them again with the same eyes after reading this book – such strange and wonderful stories of the nature and significance of trees.
The Man Who Climbs Trees is a wonderful book, full of James Aldred’s adventures and his views on life and spirituality. I loved it. His travels brought him into contact with dozens of different religions and philosophies all containing ‘profound elements of truth’ that he respects very much, concluding that ‘spirituality is where you find it’ and he finds it ‘most easily when up in the trees’.
James Aldred, a professional tree climber, wildlife cameraman, and adventurer, explains how he discovered that trees are places of refuge as well as providing unique vantage points to view the world. Trees enthral him, right from the time he first climbed into the canopy of an oak tree in the New Forest. Climbing trees gives him peace within himself and with the world around him. Since he first began climbing trees he has travelled the world climbing many of the world’s tallest trees, filming for the BBC and National Geographic magazine.
It’s incredibly dangerous work. It’s not only the difficulties of climbing some of the world’s tallest trees, but also dealing with extreme weather, attacks from animals, birds and a variety of insects. Perhaps the most horrifying was a sinister rash that appeared all over his body when he was in the Congo. This rash developed into ninety red angry boils, several of them on his head. Then he was woken by something moving beneath the skin of his scalp, squirming and wriggling around; the pain was unbearable. Each boil was home to spine-covered maggots that bot-flies, large black flies with bulbous red eyes, had laid under his skin! He ended up in hospital with cerebral malaria.
I have always loved trees but I’ll never look at them again with the same eyes after reading this book – such strange and wonderful stories of the nature and significance of trees.
The Man Who Climbs Trees is a wonderful book, full of James Aldred’s adventures and his views on life and spirituality. I loved it. His travels brought him into contact with dozens of different religions and philosophies all containing ‘profound elements of truth’ that he respects very much, concluding that ‘spirituality is where you find it’ and he finds it ‘most easily when up in the trees’.
December 1, 2022
This was an enchanting read. I was thrown into the connection of awe, learning about the magic nature and forests can create. Everything felt very real, the dangers, challenges and successes. I'm looking forward to reading his next book when it comes out GOSHAWK SUMMER in April. What a beautiful book. Aldred has a way of turning his experiences into a poetic revelation.
"The forest canopy hung around me in floating terraces. Horizontal layers of thick foliage suspended at different heights with the neighboring trees. Everything was backlit, glowing bluish green in the afternoon sunlight. The sun itself was eclipsed by a branch, but the surrounding needles shown in halo of silver..."
"The forest canopy hung around me in floating terraces. Horizontal layers of thick foliage suspended at different heights with the neighboring trees. Everything was backlit, glowing bluish green in the afternoon sunlight. The sun itself was eclipsed by a branch, but the surrounding needles shown in halo of silver..."
July 8, 2025
Who knew a book about climbing trees would be so interesting.
Well laid out, each chapter deals with a particular tree in a particular location.
The techniques are really well explained, the process of climbing interesting, the narrative accompanying each tree spellbinding.
Don’t be put off by the title, it’s a great book.
Well laid out, each chapter deals with a particular tree in a particular location.
The techniques are really well explained, the process of climbing interesting, the narrative accompanying each tree spellbinding.
Don’t be put off by the title, it’s a great book.
December 12, 2021
I’m not at all fond of stinging insects. Or heights. Or humidity. James Aldred didn’t change my mind about such things, but he sure made me glad that they aren’t problems for him! That said, if you are squeamish, be warned.
From the time he was a boy, Aldred was fascinated with trees. In his teens he began climbing trees with his friends near his home in England. There was a particular tree, a giant sequoia no less, that was his favorite. In the New Forest, his tree, Goliath, began life in 1859. By the time Aldred was sixteen, he learned to yank himself up that tree to get a seat in the canopy. That first time, he didn’t make it to the very top, but the seed was planted deep inside him…the need to climb trees for the rest of his life.
And so, a career was born. If you’ve ever watched a BBC or National Geographic nature documentary, you will be glad he became addicted to trees. And photography. His specialty has been siting the best tree to film an assignment and rigging the filming platforms and cameras for the host, the lead photographer, or him to use so that the rest of us can experience nature in a way we never could first hand. It is grueling and dangerous work that transports us deep inside the world’s major rainforests.
His assignment can last days, weeks, or months as he locates the right tree for filming animals and landscapes from 150 feet or more above the floor of the jungle. He is part of a sophisticated advance team that collaborates with local tribes who guide him through the vast, dense rainforest, sharing their intimate knowledge of the tree species he needs to climb as well as the wildlife that live nearby and within the canopy. It all looks so simple and beautiful on film but it can be life-threatening work. There were several times when he got into dangerous situations from which he barely survived. I held my breath through all of it, even knowing that he thankfully survived to write this book.
The book starts with his early years, as he fell in love with trees, learned how to expertly climb them, and through a fluke meeting with a renowned nature photographer, joined a professional team as an assistant photographer. The chapters that follow are each focused on a particular assignment and the challenges that attended the shoot. Borneo. Congo. Indonesia. Peru. Costa Rica …and more. Aldred is a fabulous writer, bringing you along with him and vividly describing the wildlife, the rainforest, the near-death experiences and the utter joy he feels while learning about each special tree and witnessing the unique ecology that surrounds the branches he ofttimes lives in. You can feel the suffocating humidity, the endless rain, the terror when a wild bull elephant in heat appears out of nowhere, the horror when he and his guide become utterly lost in the forest with no idea how to find their way out.
I was completely captivated by this book. I’ve seen several documentaries he’s filmed and having read this, have a newfound respect for people who do this work. He is spiritually connected to these trees, all of which are named, and all of which are loved and respected. And some of which are no longer with us. Bit by bit, we are losing this habitat and its vital contribution to our planetary health. So many species are at risk and I'm grateful that he is capturing many on film so there is a record of what may become a lost world. I cannot recommend this book enough. Just be warned, there are bees …lots of bees.
From the time he was a boy, Aldred was fascinated with trees. In his teens he began climbing trees with his friends near his home in England. There was a particular tree, a giant sequoia no less, that was his favorite. In the New Forest, his tree, Goliath, began life in 1859. By the time Aldred was sixteen, he learned to yank himself up that tree to get a seat in the canopy. That first time, he didn’t make it to the very top, but the seed was planted deep inside him…the need to climb trees for the rest of his life.
And so, a career was born. If you’ve ever watched a BBC or National Geographic nature documentary, you will be glad he became addicted to trees. And photography. His specialty has been siting the best tree to film an assignment and rigging the filming platforms and cameras for the host, the lead photographer, or him to use so that the rest of us can experience nature in a way we never could first hand. It is grueling and dangerous work that transports us deep inside the world’s major rainforests.
His assignment can last days, weeks, or months as he locates the right tree for filming animals and landscapes from 150 feet or more above the floor of the jungle. He is part of a sophisticated advance team that collaborates with local tribes who guide him through the vast, dense rainforest, sharing their intimate knowledge of the tree species he needs to climb as well as the wildlife that live nearby and within the canopy. It all looks so simple and beautiful on film but it can be life-threatening work. There were several times when he got into dangerous situations from which he barely survived. I held my breath through all of it, even knowing that he thankfully survived to write this book.
The book starts with his early years, as he fell in love with trees, learned how to expertly climb them, and through a fluke meeting with a renowned nature photographer, joined a professional team as an assistant photographer. The chapters that follow are each focused on a particular assignment and the challenges that attended the shoot. Borneo. Congo. Indonesia. Peru. Costa Rica …and more. Aldred is a fabulous writer, bringing you along with him and vividly describing the wildlife, the rainforest, the near-death experiences and the utter joy he feels while learning about each special tree and witnessing the unique ecology that surrounds the branches he ofttimes lives in. You can feel the suffocating humidity, the endless rain, the terror when a wild bull elephant in heat appears out of nowhere, the horror when he and his guide become utterly lost in the forest with no idea how to find their way out.
I was completely captivated by this book. I’ve seen several documentaries he’s filmed and having read this, have a newfound respect for people who do this work. He is spiritually connected to these trees, all of which are named, and all of which are loved and respected. And some of which are no longer with us. Bit by bit, we are losing this habitat and its vital contribution to our planetary health. So many species are at risk and I'm grateful that he is capturing many on film so there is a record of what may become a lost world. I cannot recommend this book enough. Just be warned, there are bees …lots of bees.
April 28, 2018
The Man Who Climbs Trees is a wild, woolly, wonderful memoir by a professional wildlife photographer and avid tree lover. James Aldred loves trees in a much different way than most tree lovers, though; he likes to climb them; live in them; sleep in them; view the world like a bird, or one of the many other creatures that spend most or all of their lives in trees. I never tired of the author's descriptions of sunrises and sunsets, of the wind, rain and lightning, and of all the birds and animals he encountered while way off the ground.
His encounters with big animals while on the ground were also fascinating, particularly the time an angry bull elephant chases him into the water, and then later finds him when he's sleeping in a hut. It's insects, however, not large mammals, who almost end Mr. Aldred's tree climbing days for good. Tree climbing all over the world can be a very dangerous, dirty and exhausting job. Nevertheless, the author obviously loves what he does, and I, for one, am thankful he wrote this memoir describing his lifelong love for trees and his breathtaking climbing experiences.
(Note: I received a free ARC of this book from Amazon Vine.)
His encounters with big animals while on the ground were also fascinating, particularly the time an angry bull elephant chases him into the water, and then later finds him when he's sleeping in a hut. It's insects, however, not large mammals, who almost end Mr. Aldred's tree climbing days for good. Tree climbing all over the world can be a very dangerous, dirty and exhausting job. Nevertheless, the author obviously loves what he does, and I, for one, am thankful he wrote this memoir describing his lifelong love for trees and his breathtaking climbing experiences.
(Note: I received a free ARC of this book from Amazon Vine.)
February 10, 2019
The love and draw to the lofty trees and ascending them could not allow me to experience the wonder for the dangers and uncomfortable personal encounters real or imagined.
The descriptions of the views from the top of the canopies stimulate my imagination but the bugs and natural elements to overcome left me holding my breath.
A great adventure of gigantic trees and remote , wild places in the world was a fascinating memoir.
written in a flowing ,descriptive manor that takes one into their own fantasy world.
To bring one back in to the grounded , personal but family oriented world brought me full circle.
The descriptions of the views from the top of the canopies stimulate my imagination but the bugs and natural elements to overcome left me holding my breath.
A great adventure of gigantic trees and remote , wild places in the world was a fascinating memoir.
written in a flowing ,descriptive manor that takes one into their own fantasy world.
To bring one back in to the grounded , personal but family oriented world brought me full circle.
March 6, 2018
Most of us have happy childhood memories of trees, being in them, picnics around them, taking shelter from a storm under them, and occasionally and not so happily falling out of them.
Read More Book Reviews at It's Good To Read
Over time, and especially with the increasing urban-centric way of living, we can lose sight of trees, as they become a backdrop to our ever-hurrying existence. There are relatively few old trees in city centres, for example. Do children climb trees anymore?
Summary:
This book is about one child who did, whose love for his first real tree climb grew into an obsession, and his passion drips off every page.
The Plot:
Aldred takes us from his childhood, spent exploring the New Forest in the UK, through his college explorations and career choices, onto a globe-trotting journey where we meet some of the true giants of nature. Over the course of his 20-odd year career in the trees, this award-winning cameraman gives us a few of his stories, siting them in the jungles of Borneo (strangler fig), the Australian outback (Mountain Ash), the soaring Atlas mountains of Morocco (Atlas cedar), and parts of central Africa.
A freelancer, he has worked with blue-chip clients such as National Geographic and the BBC, alongside the likes of Sir David Attenborough. He takes us through the process of getting into the higher levels or canopy of the world’s tallest trees (needing to become expert in crossbow-shooting, and well as mountain climbing techniques).
Trusting his life to a thin strip of nylon, he often needs to climb 150 to 200 feet into the trees, before he can safely anchor himself against a stout branch. This is not the hard part, nor indeed the most dangerous.
The Characters:
Aldred tells of meeting hostile howler monkeys in the canopy, escaping an onrushing enraged bull elephant, being stalked by leopards, violently attacked by harpy eagles while installing a rig camera, and being bitten by snakes. Sometimes the most fatal threat is insectile, or microscopic. He has found himself infested with bot fly larvae, stung by (a lot of) honeybees, suffering cerebral malaria, amongst others.
He details a glorious few days spent watching gorillas in their natural habitat, including the massive silverback male, before telling us that about 140 from 168 of this band died from ebola a few years later.
He recounts magical moments in the presence of our mammalian and avian neighbours on this planet, high above the surface in a world that is its own eco-system, wild, complex and much undiscovered.
The Trees are of course the main characters in this book. Aldred’s love and awe for these giants in palpable.
He details how he looks for “the perfect Tree” for his camera shots with Attenborough, finding a strangler fig tree, and giving just the right detail of how this parasite tree survives and grows. This process took him about 10 days or so, in torrential jungle rain, under extreme humid conditions. We meet the mighty Mountain Ash trees of Australia, amongst the highest in the world, and Aldred lovingly tells of the texture of the bark, and the incredible vista that opens up when he ascends to the highest branches. We feel his anguish when he later leans they were destroyed in a bush fire.
Other trees include the Redwoods that were transported to the UK about 200 years ago, and Aldred is humbled by the sense of connection through time with those who planted the seed, knowing they would never see the tree to full flowering, the moabi tree in the Congo, and his own heart-tree deep in the New England forest.
Along the way, we are introduced to some truly amazing people, for example the man who manually hauls 40kg or so of Brazil nuts, strapped to his head, while running through the jungle to get to his depot. Every day. The guides in Africa who are so attuned, they can sense animals coming before a sound is heard. Tribes in Papua, who venerate trees as a central part in their culture, and “shamed” Aldred with their prowess in natural climbing.
What I Liked:
Everything. This is NOT a book about the author. This is a book about the natural and largely unseen world above our heads. Aldred, while obviously central to it, does not make himself the story. He is humble throughout, regularly saying how grateful and lucky he is to lead the life he does (even when the harpy nearly cut his carotid artery!).
He doesn’t preach a green agenda, but does note the impact things like illegal logging and climate change are having on these most resilient of species.
What I Didn’t like.
I would have liked photographs. I would not necessarily be familiar with the tree he’d be discussing, and it would be good to have a reference.
I’m not normally a nature-book reader, but this is something a little different. Through his eyes, we get to poke our heads through the canopy to see the world above.
I’d really recommend this book, a great read, well-written, and very interesting all the way through.
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Over time, and especially with the increasing urban-centric way of living, we can lose sight of trees, as they become a backdrop to our ever-hurrying existence. There are relatively few old trees in city centres, for example. Do children climb trees anymore?
Summary:
This book is about one child who did, whose love for his first real tree climb grew into an obsession, and his passion drips off every page.
The Plot:
Aldred takes us from his childhood, spent exploring the New Forest in the UK, through his college explorations and career choices, onto a globe-trotting journey where we meet some of the true giants of nature. Over the course of his 20-odd year career in the trees, this award-winning cameraman gives us a few of his stories, siting them in the jungles of Borneo (strangler fig), the Australian outback (Mountain Ash), the soaring Atlas mountains of Morocco (Atlas cedar), and parts of central Africa.
A freelancer, he has worked with blue-chip clients such as National Geographic and the BBC, alongside the likes of Sir David Attenborough. He takes us through the process of getting into the higher levels or canopy of the world’s tallest trees (needing to become expert in crossbow-shooting, and well as mountain climbing techniques).
Trusting his life to a thin strip of nylon, he often needs to climb 150 to 200 feet into the trees, before he can safely anchor himself against a stout branch. This is not the hard part, nor indeed the most dangerous.
The Characters:
Aldred tells of meeting hostile howler monkeys in the canopy, escaping an onrushing enraged bull elephant, being stalked by leopards, violently attacked by harpy eagles while installing a rig camera, and being bitten by snakes. Sometimes the most fatal threat is insectile, or microscopic. He has found himself infested with bot fly larvae, stung by (a lot of) honeybees, suffering cerebral malaria, amongst others.
He details a glorious few days spent watching gorillas in their natural habitat, including the massive silverback male, before telling us that about 140 from 168 of this band died from ebola a few years later.
He recounts magical moments in the presence of our mammalian and avian neighbours on this planet, high above the surface in a world that is its own eco-system, wild, complex and much undiscovered.
The Trees are of course the main characters in this book. Aldred’s love and awe for these giants in palpable.
He details how he looks for “the perfect Tree” for his camera shots with Attenborough, finding a strangler fig tree, and giving just the right detail of how this parasite tree survives and grows. This process took him about 10 days or so, in torrential jungle rain, under extreme humid conditions. We meet the mighty Mountain Ash trees of Australia, amongst the highest in the world, and Aldred lovingly tells of the texture of the bark, and the incredible vista that opens up when he ascends to the highest branches. We feel his anguish when he later leans they were destroyed in a bush fire.
Other trees include the Redwoods that were transported to the UK about 200 years ago, and Aldred is humbled by the sense of connection through time with those who planted the seed, knowing they would never see the tree to full flowering, the moabi tree in the Congo, and his own heart-tree deep in the New England forest.
Along the way, we are introduced to some truly amazing people, for example the man who manually hauls 40kg or so of Brazil nuts, strapped to his head, while running through the jungle to get to his depot. Every day. The guides in Africa who are so attuned, they can sense animals coming before a sound is heard. Tribes in Papua, who venerate trees as a central part in their culture, and “shamed” Aldred with their prowess in natural climbing.
What I Liked:
Everything. This is NOT a book about the author. This is a book about the natural and largely unseen world above our heads. Aldred, while obviously central to it, does not make himself the story. He is humble throughout, regularly saying how grateful and lucky he is to lead the life he does (even when the harpy nearly cut his carotid artery!).
He doesn’t preach a green agenda, but does note the impact things like illegal logging and climate change are having on these most resilient of species.
What I Didn’t like.
I would have liked photographs. I would not necessarily be familiar with the tree he’d be discussing, and it would be good to have a reference.
I’m not normally a nature-book reader, but this is something a little different. Through his eyes, we get to poke our heads through the canopy to see the world above.
I’d really recommend this book, a great read, well-written, and very interesting all the way through.
August 17, 2018
The notion of someone climbing, sleeping and relaxing for days in the topmost branches of the world’s tallest trees had me reading, hands clammy, for the first few chapters of this amazing book. This is just what James Aldred has been doing since he was a teenager, through rain, heat, thunderstorms and gale force winds.
Alongside the challenges posed by snakes, spiders, stinging wasps, African honey bees, orangutans and eagles he has managed to make a living scaling forest giants of up to 350 feet tall. He’s worked with film crews from BBC, National Geographic and Sir David Attenborough to private documentary-film makers from across the world.
Aldred describes how he climbed his first, giant oak (he named it Goliath) in New Forest, England, to escape a stampeding herd of horses from trampling him to death. Sitting on the tree’s wide branches he’d found an amazingly peaceful, living, breathing world where, he says, he became not only with nature but part of it:
“Despite spending most of my childhood with nature, I’d never been so much inside nature as I was right then. As I swayed gently in the arms of the tree, I felt connected to the very earth itself.”
He writes so well I frequently smelled the pine and heard the wind singing through the moving branches as I read. He relates his arboreal experiences with an astounding nonchalance – describing how he enjoys his meals and gets ready for bed, concentrating on the “tricky part of getting himself, already in his sleeping bag, into his hammock without capsizing”. And deliberately tilting sideways after a rainstorm, to drain water that had pooled inside his hammock, and hearing it splash onto the forest floor moments later.
This is an unusual book. I like the format, which dedicates chapters to countries where Aldred climbed trees – Borneo, New Guinea, New Zealand, Congo, Gabon, California, Costa Rico, Venezuela and more. He has a vast knowledge of flora and fauna and demonstrates his reverence for trees, some of which are disappearing as the world’s forests shrink. He also writes about the unique character of each species he climbs, and about individual giants as though each has a personality of its own. To him, trees are safe places of sanctuary and peace.
I’m so glad that this, my one hundredth book review, concerns this special book. I gladly give it a well-deserved 5 stars.
Alongside the challenges posed by snakes, spiders, stinging wasps, African honey bees, orangutans and eagles he has managed to make a living scaling forest giants of up to 350 feet tall. He’s worked with film crews from BBC, National Geographic and Sir David Attenborough to private documentary-film makers from across the world.
Aldred describes how he climbed his first, giant oak (he named it Goliath) in New Forest, England, to escape a stampeding herd of horses from trampling him to death. Sitting on the tree’s wide branches he’d found an amazingly peaceful, living, breathing world where, he says, he became not only with nature but part of it:
“Despite spending most of my childhood with nature, I’d never been so much inside nature as I was right then. As I swayed gently in the arms of the tree, I felt connected to the very earth itself.”
He writes so well I frequently smelled the pine and heard the wind singing through the moving branches as I read. He relates his arboreal experiences with an astounding nonchalance – describing how he enjoys his meals and gets ready for bed, concentrating on the “tricky part of getting himself, already in his sleeping bag, into his hammock without capsizing”. And deliberately tilting sideways after a rainstorm, to drain water that had pooled inside his hammock, and hearing it splash onto the forest floor moments later.
This is an unusual book. I like the format, which dedicates chapters to countries where Aldred climbed trees – Borneo, New Guinea, New Zealand, Congo, Gabon, California, Costa Rico, Venezuela and more. He has a vast knowledge of flora and fauna and demonstrates his reverence for trees, some of which are disappearing as the world’s forests shrink. He also writes about the unique character of each species he climbs, and about individual giants as though each has a personality of its own. To him, trees are safe places of sanctuary and peace.
I’m so glad that this, my one hundredth book review, concerns this special book. I gladly give it a well-deserved 5 stars.
December 24, 2018
The Man who Climbs Trees is an interesting look at the life of tree-climber James Aldred who has worked for the BBC, climbing trees in forests throughout the world.
I enjoyed the book a lot more than I initially thought I would; it’s very well written with beautiful imagery and interesting stories. Although his words do a good job of firing up your imagination, I was a little disappointed that there are no pictures which would have been good to look at, even on my black and white kindle. A few photos per chapter of the trees, views and wildlife for example would have really helped to bring the book to life, particularly as most of James’ jobs were as a photographer! I was expecting to have a lot of images at the end of the book instead of interspersed throughout but to have nothing at all was quite disappointing.
There is a little bit of embellishment on a few stories that I thought could have been done without – in particular setting the scene of the men in the 1800s planting a few of the great trees just felt very unrealistic and out of keeping with the rest of the book. A warning that a few of the more interesting stories are a little gruesome – for example, the maggots and the bees! A few of the stories aren’t quite as interesting and more about climbing a specific tree where I thought having pictures would have helped. It’s very easy to section the story off and read it in chunks if you prefer as well though. It opens you up to a whole new industry and gives a sad perspective on the future of these great forests which are being destroyed by either climate change or human industries.
Overall The Man who Climbs Trees is an interesting read – it just could have benefitted from some visual aids to accompany it. Thank you to NetGalley, James Aldred and Penguin Random House – Ebury Publishing for a copy of the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
For more of my reviews please go to www.kindig.co.uk
I enjoyed the book a lot more than I initially thought I would; it’s very well written with beautiful imagery and interesting stories. Although his words do a good job of firing up your imagination, I was a little disappointed that there are no pictures which would have been good to look at, even on my black and white kindle. A few photos per chapter of the trees, views and wildlife for example would have really helped to bring the book to life, particularly as most of James’ jobs were as a photographer! I was expecting to have a lot of images at the end of the book instead of interspersed throughout but to have nothing at all was quite disappointing.
There is a little bit of embellishment on a few stories that I thought could have been done without – in particular setting the scene of the men in the 1800s planting a few of the great trees just felt very unrealistic and out of keeping with the rest of the book. A warning that a few of the more interesting stories are a little gruesome – for example, the maggots and the bees! A few of the stories aren’t quite as interesting and more about climbing a specific tree where I thought having pictures would have helped. It’s very easy to section the story off and read it in chunks if you prefer as well though. It opens you up to a whole new industry and gives a sad perspective on the future of these great forests which are being destroyed by either climate change or human industries.
Overall The Man who Climbs Trees is an interesting read – it just could have benefitted from some visual aids to accompany it. Thank you to NetGalley, James Aldred and Penguin Random House – Ebury Publishing for a copy of the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
For more of my reviews please go to www.kindig.co.uk
March 14, 2022
As a teenager, author James Aldred had a mountain climbing buddy who taught him how to climb trees using mountaineering equipment. The first tree they climbed together was a California Sequoia that had been planted in a UK tree reserve
Although he didn’t make it to the top of the tree his first day, he was hooked. He practiced, practiced, practiced and spent ten years refining his techniques often as a unpaid helper in various tree climbing capacities.
Eventually he made it to the top (grin) and became a professional tree climber and photographer for such organizations as BBC and National Geographic.
He’s climbed trees in Borneo, The Congo, Costa Rico, Peru, Australia, Gabon, Papua, Venezuela and Morocco while setting up zip lines and building tree houses far above the forest floor.
Of course trees don’t exist by themselves, so he has encountered unhappy neighbors such as elephants, apes, wasps and unhappy harpy eagles (the latter while setting up a nest camera in their kapok tree in Venezuela).
He’s also had amazing encounters with people, such as the Papua Korawai tribe that helped him build a tree house and had only one steel ax and a multitude of stone axes. On the other end of the spectrum he was doing a bit of tree trimming at the palace when Queen Elizabeth was disturbed by his presence as she hadn’t been told he would be there.
Interesting and well written nature, adventure and travel wrapped into one. I enjoyed this more than I thought I would after it became a selection of our book club.
Although he didn’t make it to the top of the tree his first day, he was hooked. He practiced, practiced, practiced and spent ten years refining his techniques often as a unpaid helper in various tree climbing capacities.
Eventually he made it to the top (grin) and became a professional tree climber and photographer for such organizations as BBC and National Geographic.
He’s climbed trees in Borneo, The Congo, Costa Rico, Peru, Australia, Gabon, Papua, Venezuela and Morocco while setting up zip lines and building tree houses far above the forest floor.
Of course trees don’t exist by themselves, so he has encountered unhappy neighbors such as elephants, apes, wasps and unhappy harpy eagles (the latter while setting up a nest camera in their kapok tree in Venezuela).
He’s also had amazing encounters with people, such as the Papua Korawai tribe that helped him build a tree house and had only one steel ax and a multitude of stone axes. On the other end of the spectrum he was doing a bit of tree trimming at the palace when Queen Elizabeth was disturbed by his presence as she hadn’t been told he would be there.
Interesting and well written nature, adventure and travel wrapped into one. I enjoyed this more than I thought I would after it became a selection of our book club.
September 20, 2025
The Man Who Climbs Trees by James Aldred is a fascinating adventure memoir that takes readers on a journey up into the canopies of trees.Aldred shares his lifelong passion for trees, from his early days to his professional career filming for the BBC and National Geographic. The book is structured around a series of memorable climbs with each chapter focusing on a specific tree or location. He recounts his expeditions to towering trees across the globe,in far flung remote areas. The narrative is punctuated with thrilling anecdotes of working with David Attenborough in Costa Rica, sleeping in tree canopies with orangutans and chimpanzees in Borneo and Congo, getting infested with maggots in Congo, attacked by harpy eagles in Venezuela etc . What comes through is the author’s deep and spiritual reverence for the trees themselves, exploring their unique character and the complex ecosystems they support. They are living beings with their own history and silent language. Aldred’s writing style is both technical and lyrical. He seamlessly shifts between explaining the mechanics of rigging ropes , and abseiling with beautiful, passages about the sights and sounds of the forest canopy.
This book is a compelling read that will make you look at trees in a completely new light. Reminded me of what Kahlil Gibran had written - trees are poems that the earth writes upon the sky .
This book is a compelling read that will make you look at trees in a completely new light. Reminded me of what Kahlil Gibran had written - trees are poems that the earth writes upon the sky .
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