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June 2026 Vol. 63 No. 10

Economic and aesthetic factors have made trees an integral part of most cultures. From primeval forests to carbon sequestration, woodlands have been valued, curated, and managed by increasingly science-driven forestry. They have been and remain threatened by urban expansion, over-exploitation, diseases, fire, and climate change. Watkins’s study of woodlands relies on extensive sources, including historical records, archives, ethnography, literature, art, accounts of historical and literary figures, and field observations. From the history of specific species driven by economics or fashion to the diseases that threaten their survival, woodlands have been and remain subject to a complex network of forces that impact the ability to conserve and manage them. To facilitate support for the broadly held position that wooded landscapes should be increased, Watkins (Univ. of Nottingham, UK) differentiates between six different types of tree landscapes that each require different management strategies: ancient, semi-natural woods, recent plantations (emerging in the last few hundred years), recent semi-natural regenerated woodlands, farmland trees (threatened by modern agricultural efficiency), garden and park trees, and urban and industrial trees. Illustrations, detailed notes, and a concise bibliography complete this rich, complex, and timely historical and geographical investigation of the relationship between humans and trees.

--M. Nilsen, emerita, Indiana University South Bend

Summing Up: Recommended. General readers, advanced undergraduates through faculty, and professionals.