'Thomas Pakenham could convert a property developer into a tree-hugger ... The book's photographs are as beautiful and glossy as conkers; anecdote and information fall like autumn mast ... I closed the book and went to look at my own trees. Thanks to the joyful hours spent in its author's company I saw them anew. His book is a plum among autumn's publishing fruits' John Lewis-Stempel author of Meadowland
Thomas Pakenham indefatigable champion of trees narrates a story of exploration and discovery and of life-cycles that are longer than our own. Lavishly illustrated The Company of Trees recounts his personal quest to establish a large arboretum at Tullynally his forays to other tree-filled parks and plantations his often hazardous seed-hunting expeditions and his efforts to preserve magnificent old trees and historic woodlands.
The book is structured in the form of a travel diary. Almost every chapter shelters stories about the life of his large trees. He takes us on a tour of Tullynally's demesne and its trees evaluating the condition of the oaks alders ash and limes that were among the first plantings.
He travels to the Tibetan border in search of a magnolia (magnolias are Pakenham's particular passion) to Eastern Patagonia to see the last remaining giants of the Monkey Puzzle tree while the first of the Chinese-inspired gardens at Tullynally was planted entirely with seeds from south-west China. An expedition to Tibet's Tsangpo Gorge goes awry only to lead to a fruitful exploration of the Rongchu Valley which yields more than 100 bags of seeds including the Tibetan golden oak the Tsangpo cypress and blue-stemmed maples. All of the collected trees and plants are thriving at Tullynally. Whether writing about the terrible storms breaking the backs of majestic trees which have stood sentinel for hundreds of years or a fire in the 50-acre peat bog on Tullynally which threatens to spread to 'the main commercial spruce-woods to the west of the peat bog'; his fear of climate change and disease or the sturdy young sapling giving him hope for the future the book is never less than enthralling. Pakenham is a passionate writer educator and entertainer and brings both wit and wisdom to a subject of universal appeal.
David Attenborough
Bonnie Lander Johnson
Levison Wood
Mike Unwin
Michael Morpurgo
Colin Heber-Percy
John Long
Vince Beiser
Grant Fowlds
Melissa Harrison
Richard Shimell
Ruth Padel
John Vaillant
Clive Oppenheimer
Tristan Gooley
David Hone
Richard Mabey
Olive Heffernan
Rhys Jones
Hamza Yassin
Jonny Clothier
Kiran Sidhu
Florence Wilkinson
Gail Simmons
Ben Jacob
Gregory Conti
Dr Ayana Elizabeth Johnson
Royal Horticultural Society
John Wright
Edward Norfolk
Jemima Lewis
Nergiz De Baere
Porter Fox
Colin Butfield
David George Haskell
Suzie Baldwin
Stefano Mancuso
Will Burns
John Ruthven
Kim Stanley Robinson
Peter Marren
Elsa Panciroli
Peter Scott
Neil Ansell
Olaf Fritsche
Tristan Gooley
Anita Roy
Raffael Jovine
Becky Alexander
Claire Potter
Tim Ecott
Dr Dean Lomax
Natalie Fee
Bernadette Vallely
Sarah Ridley
Ambra Edwards
Chris Packham
Lars Mytting
Grant Fowlds
Lyanda Lynn Haupt
Monty Halls
Kathy Hoopmann
Mark Lane
Marine Conservation
Bill Streever
Nicholas Crane
Tony Juniper
Brian Fagan
Maggie Sandford
Nuala Gardner
Tristan Gooley
Sian Berry
Surfers Against Plastic
Tristan Gooley
Charles Foster
Tristan Gooley
Peter Reason
Robert Twigger
Archie Miles
Bernie Krause
Rob Cowen
Tristan Gooley
Colin Beavan
Jane Goodall
Helen Armitage
Andrew Bleiman
Ray Mears
Richard Heygate
John Pontin
Colin Beavan
James Jamie
Gavin Pretor-Pinney
Robert Mighall
Craig Childs
Mark Watson
John Naish
Rob Penn And Antony Woodward
Craig Childs
David Strahan
Gavin Pretor-Pinney
Eileen Campbell
Elizabeth Marshall Thomas
Dian Fossey
Christopher Grey-Wilson
Robert Twigger
Philip Ball
Peter Martin
Michael Daunt
Monty Don
Jane Goodall
Jeremy Narby
Ethan Greenhart
Stephen Budiansky
Stephen Budiansky
JoAnn Tuzeo-Jarolmen
Ervin Laszlo
Kim Williams
Blair Nikula
Donald Stokes
Donald Stokes
Jim Flegg
Donald Stokes
Donald Stokes
Donald Stokes
Donald Stokes
Donald Stokes
Donald Stokes
Donald Stokes