Wildwood (Penguin Books)

Roger Deakin's "Wildwood" is a much loved classic of nature writing. "Wildwood" is about the komponent wood, as it exists in nature, in our souls, in our culture and our lives. From the walnut tree at his Suffolk home, Roger Deakin embarks upon a quest that takes him through Britain, across Europe, to Central Asia and Australia, in search of what lies behind man's profound and enduring connection with wood and with trees.

Meeting woodlanders of all kinds, he lives in shacks and cabins, travels in search of the wild apple groves of Kazakhstan, goes coppicing in Suffolk, swims beneath the walnut trees of the Haut-Languedoc, and hunts bush plums with Aboriginal women in the outback.

Perfect for fans of Robert Macfarlane and Colin Tudge, Roger Deakin's unmatched exploration of our relationship with trees is autobiography, history, traveller's tale and incisive work in natural history.

It will take you into the heart of the woods, where we go 'to grow, learn and change'. "Enthralling". (Will Self, "New Statesman"). "Extraordinary...some of the finest naturalist writing for many years".

("Independent"). "Masterful, fascinating, excellent". ("Guardian")."An excellent read - lyrical and literate and full of social and historical insights of all kinds". (Colin Tudge, "Financial Times").

"Enchanting, very funny, every page carries a fascinating nugget. Should serve to make us appreciate more keenly all that we have here on earth...one of the greatest of all nature writers". (Craig Brown, "Mail on Sunday").

"Breathtaking, vividly written...reading "Wildwood" is an elegiac experience". ("Sunday Times"). Roger Deakin, who died in August 2006, shortly after completing the manuscript for Wildwood, was a writer, broadcaster and film-maker with a particular interest in nature and the environment.

He lived for many years in Suffolk, where he swam regularly in his moat, in the river Waveney and in the sea, in between travelling widely through the landscapes he writes about in "Wildwood". He is the author of "Waterlog", "Wildwood" and "Notes from Walnut Tree Farm".