In The Songs of Trees, David George Haskell brings his acute powers of observation to the biological networks that surround all species, including humans. He visits a dozen trees around the world, exploring their connections with webs of fungi, bacterial communities, cooperative and destructive animals, and other plants. An Amazonian ceibo tree reveals the rich ecological turmoil of the tropical forest, along with threats from expanding oilfields. Thousands of miles away, a balsam fir in Canada survives in poor soil only with the help of fungal partners – in links nearly two billion years old.

By unearthing charcoal left by Ice Age humans and petrified redwoods in the Rocky Mountains, Haskell shows how the Earth’s climate has emerged from exchanges among trees, soil communities and the atmosphere. Now humans have transformed these networks, tending some forests but destroying others.

Through his exploration, Haskell shows that this networked view of life enriches our understanding of biology, human nature and ethics. When we listen to trees, we learn how to inhabit the relationships that give life its source, substance and beauty.