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In Search of the Old Ones: An Odyssey among Ancient Trees
An extraordinary journey to visit the oldest trees in the United States that beautifully reveals the connection between humans and natural history— a perfect read for nature lovers and fans of The Hidden Life of Trees.
Follow award-winning author Anthony D. Fredericks's adventures across the United States to uncover the remarkable secrets and lives of ancient trees. He introduces some of the oldest trees in the country using up-to-date research, interviews with scientists, captivating storytelling, and a contagious wonder for the natural world. Fredericks's visits to the trees turn readers into fellow travelers. Through firsthand accounts and scientific detail, these enduring trees come to life off the page.
Each chapter begins with a time-travel story that immerses readers in Earth's past, as early as ~58,000 BCE, for a sweeping view of what was happening during human history when the ancient tree took root. It then zooms into present-day to investigate the tree in all its mature glory and the changed world around it.
Some of the featured trees
A 13,000-year-old Palmer's oak in California that survives by cloning itselfThe 1,200-year-old Seven Sisters Oak in Louisiana that has survived in the path of at least ten major hurricanes2,000-year-old redwoods (the tallest trees in the world) on the California coastThe 2,628 year old bald cypress in the Black River of North Carolina
Marvelously detailed and deeply passionate, In Search of the Old Ones will transform your perspective of the trees and forests around you.
Follow award-winning author Anthony D. Fredericks's adventures across the United States to uncover the remarkable secrets and lives of ancient trees. He introduces some of the oldest trees in the country using up-to-date research, interviews with scientists, captivating storytelling, and a contagious wonder for the natural world. Fredericks's visits to the trees turn readers into fellow travelers. Through firsthand accounts and scientific detail, these enduring trees come to life off the page.
Each chapter begins with a time-travel story that immerses readers in Earth's past, as early as ~58,000 BCE, for a sweeping view of what was happening during human history when the ancient tree took root. It then zooms into present-day to investigate the tree in all its mature glory and the changed world around it.
Some of the featured trees
A 13,000-year-old Palmer's oak in California that survives by cloning itselfThe 1,200-year-old Seven Sisters Oak in Louisiana that has survived in the path of at least ten major hurricanes2,000-year-old redwoods (the tallest trees in the world) on the California coastThe 2,628 year old bald cypress in the Black River of North Carolina
Marvelously detailed and deeply passionate, In Search of the Old Ones will transform your perspective of the trees and forests around you.
248 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 10, 2023
25 people are currently reading
550 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
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August 15, 2025I mean it wasn't horrible but still, DNF. Some parts were interesting, but too much of it was, essentially, "wow, these things are really old! I mean, really!" Maybe if I had been in a better mood I would have finished it and rated it ok, but as it is I gave up halfway through.
July 20, 2024
Love this story. I just wished he didn't repeat the size and distances in imperial and metric.
January 28, 2024
Although the layout wasn’t for me, I still recommend it for the tree facts!
February 20, 2024
Green Reads Book 1:
Amazing! Each chapter of this book follows and details one of America’s ancient trees. Meaning trees that are 3-6000 years old! Staggering. The reverence and awe the author evokes in his writing about these creatures was beautiful. We have so much to learn from trees.
“Humans have a tendency to manipulate the Earth. That is, humans cut their lawns, put in roads, plow fields, or mow crops. But in a forest, you're seeing what the earth wants to create.”
Amazing! Each chapter of this book follows and details one of America’s ancient trees. Meaning trees that are 3-6000 years old! Staggering. The reverence and awe the author evokes in his writing about these creatures was beautiful. We have so much to learn from trees.
“Humans have a tendency to manipulate the Earth. That is, humans cut their lawns, put in roads, plow fields, or mow crops. But in a forest, you're seeing what the earth wants to create.”
April 13, 2024
Trees, facts. Lots of facts. I've visited Redwoods, Bald Cypress, Evangeline Oak and Angel Oak. They left me in awe and inspired me! I grew up playing in the woods . I feel at peace in the trees. I appreciate this book and the research that went into its writing. Favorite quote: "But, in a forest, you're seeing what the earth wants to create"
October 30, 2024
The information in this book is great. The execution leaves something to be desired…
I think it’s trying to be poetic in a lot of places, but it doesn’t really succeed. It mostly comes off as, well, exceedingly verbose lol. Seriously, panoply is simply not a word you should be using more than once in a book that’s barely over 200 pages. It’s also important to mention that it makes this book much less accessible. While it isn’t overly technical, it would probably be considered at a college reading level, which is high for “popular science” type books. Terms like phloem, cambium, and other tree-related terms are also not explained well if at all. I expect readers who do not have a degree in a related subject like I do might be confused.
I understand what the author was trying to do with the more narrative parts of the text talking about his upbringing. Many science books have been successful doing similar things, but I can’t say it worked here. I’m glad there weren’t a ton of them. The sections where he describes other events happening around the same time a tree’s life began were a great idea, but again, not well executed. Having random fun facts about unrelated topics and an algebra problem (?) mostly distracted from the overall narrative. Some of them worked, but many of them didn’t.
Then we get to the numbers. Way too much of this book is devoted to giving exact numbers. Distances, sizes, ages, etc. Presenting those numbers isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but there were so many points that just felt like lists of statistics. I think a table that listed all of this information, especially one that allowed direct comparison between trees, would have been more helpful. Also, this should have had a timeline. Maybe multiple timelines. There were so many ways to present this information better, and this book didn’t do any of them. In general, people have a hard time processing too many statistics at once. That is why graphs, tables, and timelines exist and why they’re so important.
This is more subjective, but I would have appreciated more detail about the ecosystems of these trees. Ecosystems are mentioned, but there is little information overall about the role the trees play in their environment. More detail about the cultural significance would have been good too. The amount of detail in this book becomes obviously lacking when you take away the lists of statistics.
There’s so much great information in this book, so it’s unfortunate that the execution suffered so much. I’m glad it gave me more to research, though!
I think it’s trying to be poetic in a lot of places, but it doesn’t really succeed. It mostly comes off as, well, exceedingly verbose lol. Seriously, panoply is simply not a word you should be using more than once in a book that’s barely over 200 pages. It’s also important to mention that it makes this book much less accessible. While it isn’t overly technical, it would probably be considered at a college reading level, which is high for “popular science” type books. Terms like phloem, cambium, and other tree-related terms are also not explained well if at all. I expect readers who do not have a degree in a related subject like I do might be confused.
I understand what the author was trying to do with the more narrative parts of the text talking about his upbringing. Many science books have been successful doing similar things, but I can’t say it worked here. I’m glad there weren’t a ton of them. The sections where he describes other events happening around the same time a tree’s life began were a great idea, but again, not well executed. Having random fun facts about unrelated topics and an algebra problem (?) mostly distracted from the overall narrative. Some of them worked, but many of them didn’t.
Then we get to the numbers. Way too much of this book is devoted to giving exact numbers. Distances, sizes, ages, etc. Presenting those numbers isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but there were so many points that just felt like lists of statistics. I think a table that listed all of this information, especially one that allowed direct comparison between trees, would have been more helpful. Also, this should have had a timeline. Maybe multiple timelines. There were so many ways to present this information better, and this book didn’t do any of them. In general, people have a hard time processing too many statistics at once. That is why graphs, tables, and timelines exist and why they’re so important.
This is more subjective, but I would have appreciated more detail about the ecosystems of these trees. Ecosystems are mentioned, but there is little information overall about the role the trees play in their environment. More detail about the cultural significance would have been good too. The amount of detail in this book becomes obviously lacking when you take away the lists of statistics.
There’s so much great information in this book, so it’s unfortunate that the execution suffered so much. I’m glad it gave me more to research, though!
April 5, 2024
Wow! What a fascinating book. It makes me want to take a road trip to visit all the ancient trees!
In Search of the Old Ones focuses on ten of the oldest trees in the US. It is almost unfathomable how ancient some trees are, and how patient.... Consider Palmer’s Oak in Southern California, which has been cloning itself for 13,000 years. Or the bristlecone pines which grow extremely slowly, averaging only six inches at 40 years old, but live over 5000 years. Or-- as Fredericks writes about the Bennett Juniper--“admire the magnitude and grandeur of this patient tree which may grow as little as one inch in a human lifetime.” And sizes: just think of the sequoias, growing up to 275 feet tall, with a diameter of 36.5 feet, the width of a tennis court!
And my favorite part:
Fredericks talks about one special live oak, known as the Seven Sisters Oak. Growing on private property, the Seven Sisters Oak inspired the formation of the Live Oak Society which promotes “the culture, distribution, preservation, and appreciation of southern live oaks. According to the bylaws of the organization, only one human can be a member of the organization at any one time, and that person is responsible for registering and recording all the Live Oak Society’s other members, namely the trees.” To become a member of the Society, a live oak must have a girth of 8 feet or more; there are currently 8,800 members. So – a Society with only one human member allowed, and 8,800 trees!
I'm tempted to keep going on and on about all these interesting factoids, but actually, just go read the book yourself if you're interested in that sort of thing! 3.5 stars, edging towards 4.
In Search of the Old Ones focuses on ten of the oldest trees in the US. It is almost unfathomable how ancient some trees are, and how patient.... Consider Palmer’s Oak in Southern California, which has been cloning itself for 13,000 years. Or the bristlecone pines which grow extremely slowly, averaging only six inches at 40 years old, but live over 5000 years. Or-- as Fredericks writes about the Bennett Juniper--“admire the magnitude and grandeur of this patient tree which may grow as little as one inch in a human lifetime.” And sizes: just think of the sequoias, growing up to 275 feet tall, with a diameter of 36.5 feet, the width of a tennis court!
And my favorite part:
Fredericks talks about one special live oak, known as the Seven Sisters Oak. Growing on private property, the Seven Sisters Oak inspired the formation of the Live Oak Society which promotes “the culture, distribution, preservation, and appreciation of southern live oaks. According to the bylaws of the organization, only one human can be a member of the organization at any one time, and that person is responsible for registering and recording all the Live Oak Society’s other members, namely the trees.” To become a member of the Society, a live oak must have a girth of 8 feet or more; there are currently 8,800 members. So – a Society with only one human member allowed, and 8,800 trees!
I'm tempted to keep going on and on about all these interesting factoids, but actually, just go read the book yourself if you're interested in that sort of thing! 3.5 stars, edging towards 4.
August 24, 2024
Amazing fact book about trees! The flow of the book was ok, but the information was invaluable! I especially liked that not only the author described the trees (my fav redwoods!!) but also steps we can take to preserve them. I think one of the facts I was fascinated about is that old forests are able to take in 75% more CO2 than younger trees, which is naturally is helping the environment.
I have been searching for ways to plant trees with family, and after reading this book, def taking steps to accomplish it! Reading this book is coinciding with traveling to Muir Redwoods where our kids will meet the real elders :) it's an awe-inspiring place!!
I have been searching for ways to plant trees with family, and after reading this book, def taking steps to accomplish it! Reading this book is coinciding with traveling to Muir Redwoods where our kids will meet the real elders :) it's an awe-inspiring place!!
November 9, 2023
This book is an enchanting journey into a deeper time. The author's engaging style puts us right there with him alongside these awe-inspiring trees. Each chapter begins with an engaging story of the past that helps us to grasp the vast time periods that make up the life of these incredible living monuments. I particularly appreciated the author's humble reverence for his subject and his infectious sense of wonder and touches of humor.
February 25, 2024
I love all the good things I find at my local indie book store, including this magnificent book. Anthony D. Fredericks writes about trees with a poetic reverence. Science and spirituality come together in this fascinating book. I learned a bunch of new things about trees and the importance of dendrochronology. Reading this book, I gained a deeper appreciation for trees of all ages. In Search of the Old Ones is a wonderful read.
April 12, 2024
Fascinating subject matter interspersed with nonsense fictional accounts of the authors idea of historic events. Not as well written as any of Bernd Heinrich’s naturalist books. Disappointingly didactic, but the material was informative. I was left feeling a bit empty after having read this, like it needs a sequel to balance it out.
January 1, 2024
In this excellent book book you meet the oldest entities on the planet ancient trees. Old growth bristlecones, sequoias, redwoods, live oaks and survivors of the humans who worked diligently to cut them down. This is a really good book. I enjoyed it greatly.
April 19, 2024
This is a story of the ancient trees of the world. The author takes us on a journey through the centuries populated by species of ancient trees. Their value against climate change is inestimable.in the appendix the author lists famous very old trees and their locations. I want to visit all of them.
July 10, 2024
While a fascinating read full of tree facts, at times the opening stories kind of meandered. I did enjoy it for the most part, and think it’s an interesting insight to the societies dedicated to preserving trees as well as into what dendrochronology can achieve.
July 28, 2024
Amazing! Gave me a totally different perspective and appreciation for growing up on the West Coast. This book resonated with me deeply and I’m very thankful I got to grow up playing among ancient trees in the Humboldt National Forest. 💚🍃
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January 18, 2025Before reading this, I had no idea there are so many trees alive that are THOUSANDS of years old. I liked the combination facts, and philosophical reflection. The drawings were nice too. I’m still not sure how I feel about the historical ‘narrative’ parts.
April 18, 2024
Lots of interesting stories about famous trees. It’s like a biography of several important trees.
August 4, 2024
A bit dry to listen but rounding up from 3.5 stars because this story is so important.
August 20, 2025
Very interesting and a great read.
November 25, 2025
Excellent and I especially appreciated the snapshots of history around the world at the time some of the trees germinated. It helps to understand just HOW old some of these trees are.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews