The Heart of the Forest: Why Woods Matter

by John Miller, Kathleen Jamie (Foreword)

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.

Genres: Nature, Nonfiction

288 pages, Hardcover

Published August 25, 2022

About the author

John Miller is Senior Lecturer in Nineteenth-Century Literature at the University of Sheffield.

Reviews

[Mandy Haggith · Rating 5 out of 5]

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.

[Alenka of Bohemia · Rating 3.75 out of 5]

Written with a lot of love, this is an ode to the forests and what they have meant and still mean to human cultures and souls. Not particularly scientific (if that is what you are looking for), nor truly broad in history (to my own chagrin, and to be fair, there IS some history), but a study in how the woods and trees and nature are mirrored in the media of the past 200 years. Peppered through by the author´s own experiences. Lavish illustrations and accessible language make this a quick but still meaningful read.

[Claire · Rating 3 out of 5]

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.