There's a lot of information here about trees.

And it's a heckuva lot more interesting than the title might suggest. A History of Trees, which focuses on 28 types of trees native to or imported to England, devotes several pages to each species of tree and tells readers ... well, just the right amount of information to be really interesting without crossing the line into tedium.

Author Simon Wills has certainly done his research, and he details the history of the trees in a fun, conversational style. He'll tell you if the tree is native to England and, if not, where, why and by whom it was brought there. He discusses folklore surrounding the trees, real and imagined medical uses, practical uses such as furniture-making, ship-building and basket-weaving, important literary references and local traditions that sprung up around them.

He also provides botanical information, describing each species' appearance, size, procreation, etc. Is there a particularly famous or venerable specimen of a tree? Wills will tell you about it and whether or not it's still standing. Bonus, the book is beautifully illustrated with photographs, paintings and sketches so you can see for yourself what the trees look like.

This is not a book to sit down and read at length. Rather, keep it handy so you can pick it up and browse for a few minutes at a time. Along the way, you'll learn a lot about alders, ashes, beeches and birches, elms, hawthorns, hazels and hornbeams, magnolias, maples, oaks and willows, and even some less familiar tree types (at least to me here in North America) such as hornbeam, London plane and monkey puzzle.

I really enjoyed this book, which is a perfect gift for the tree-enthusiast in your life.