A new edition of a contemporary natural history classic, with a new foreword by Peter Wohlleben, author of The Hidden Life of Trees.

'A story that fills us with wonder: the tree keeps its soul and steals our hearts'

Peter Wohlleben, author of The Hidden Life of Trees

All across the planet, trees literally hold the world together. This is the awe-inspiring biography of a single tree, from the moment the seed is released from its cone until, more than five hundred years later, it lies on the forest floor as a nurse log, giving life to ferns, mosses and hemlocks, even as its own life is ending.

David Suzuki and Wayne Grady describe in lyrical detail the dramatic origins of a Douglas fir, which begins its life with a burst of millions of microscopic grains of pollen. They uncover its amazing resilience, and also its vulnerability across its long life in the forest. The tree's pivotal role in making life possible for the creatures around it—including human beings—is lovingly explored.

'Read Tree. It will fill you with wonder, magic and awe.'

Globe and Mail

'From the tiny seed of a single Douglas-fir, David Suzuki and Wayne Grady have grown a wonderful book, learned but lovely, thorough but terse. It's as big as all life.'

David Quammen, author of The Tangled Tree