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The Heart of the Forest: Why Woods Matter
Looking at threats to forest life across the globe, John Miller draws on literature, film and art to explore why woods matter to us, building on the ecological case for saving trees to raise the compelling question of their cultural value.
The Heart of the Forest explores four enduring ways in which we connect to the woods – through Refuge, Sacredness, Horror and Hope – making fascinating links between emotion and genre. For Henry David Thoreau, the woods are places beyond civilisation; for Ursula LeGuin and C.S. Lewis, they are loaded with otherworldly potential; and for those fleeing captivity, they can provide a welcome sanctuary. Woods can strike fear, they can inspire wonder, they can be lovely, dark and deep.
With full-colour illustration throughout, this book branches out into the British Library to find both the haunting and the hopeful in an unparalleled collection of books, manuscripts and photography. It tells a global story of how we understand trees, and its beautifully illustrated pages present a moving argument for conservation and renewal.
The Heart of the Forest explores four enduring ways in which we connect to the woods – through Refuge, Sacredness, Horror and Hope – making fascinating links between emotion and genre. For Henry David Thoreau, the woods are places beyond civilisation; for Ursula LeGuin and C.S. Lewis, they are loaded with otherworldly potential; and for those fleeing captivity, they can provide a welcome sanctuary. Woods can strike fear, they can inspire wonder, they can be lovely, dark and deep.
With full-colour illustration throughout, this book branches out into the British Library to find both the haunting and the hopeful in an unparalleled collection of books, manuscripts and photography. It tells a global story of how we understand trees, and its beautifully illustrated pages present a moving argument for conservation and renewal.
- GenresNature
288 pages, Hardcover
Published August 25, 2022
About the author
John Miller
13 books6 followersJohn Miller is Senior Lecturer in Nineteenth-Century Literature at the University of Sheffield.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
February 5, 2023
The best book about forests and trees I have read for years. Beautifully written, lavishly illustrated and on the button on so many key issues, but especially how culturally and emotionally vital woods are to us. As powerful and memorable and important as Robert Pogue Harrison's Forests: the Shadow of Civilisation. Highly recommended.
February 6, 2026
3.5⭐s
This wasn't exactly what I thought it was going to be. I expected this book to be about trees and forests, which it was but it was also about books, films, religion, cultures, politics and how forests fit in to and are a part of all those areas.
I did enjoy it but felt that it meandered off on lots of tangents sometimes a bit abruptly.
This wasn't exactly what I thought it was going to be. I expected this book to be about trees and forests, which it was but it was also about books, films, religion, cultures, politics and how forests fit in to and are a part of all those areas.
I did enjoy it but felt that it meandered off on lots of tangents sometimes a bit abruptly.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews