The Great Wood: The Ancient Forest of Caledon - Softcover

Crumley, Jim

Softcover

ISBN 10: 184158973X ISBN 13: 9781841589732

Publisher: Birlinn, 2011

Synopsis

The Great Wood of Caledon - the historic native forest of Highland Scotland - has a reputation as potent and misleading as the wolves that ruled it. The popular image is of an impassable, sun-snuffing shroud, a Highlandswide jungle infested by wolf, lynx, bear, beaver, wild white cattle, wild boar, and wilder painted men.

Jim Crumley shines a light into the darker corners of the Great Wood, to re-evaluate some of the questionable elements of its reputation, and to assess the possibilities of its partial resurrection into something like a national forest. The book threads a path among relict strongholds of native woodland, beginning with a soliloquy by the Fortingall Yew, the one tree in Scotland that can say of the hey-day of the Great Wood 5,000 years ago: 'I was there.' The journey is enriched by vivid wildlife encounters, a passionate and poetic account that binds the slow dereliction of the past to an optimistic future.

About this title

About the Author:

Described by the Los Angeles Times Book Review as 'the best nature writer working in Britain today', Jim Crumley was born and grew up in Dundee where the skeleton of the Tay Whale hung from the ceiling of the city museum and haunted his childhood dreams. He has written 23 books to date and has made numerous documentaries for BBC Radio 4, Radio Scotland and Wildlife on One.

Review:

An engaging read' (BBC Wildlife Magazine)

Crumley gives unique insight into the rich history of this land' (Scottish Field)

About this edition

• Publisher: Birlinn
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 184158973X
• ISBN 13: 9781841589732
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 208