I didn't enjoy this as much as I thought I would, but there can be little doubting Mabey's mastery of his subject. He is very strong on the potential contradictions involved in the protection or promotion of nature and wildlife. We humans, it seems, just can't avoid seeing everything in terms of how it relates to us, and thus struggle to avoid the tendency to try and control nature. If we seek to protect woodlands in their current form are we really protecting "nature" or instead protecting something that happens to exist at a particular point in time because of the actions of our ancestors? We think we are promoting nature by planting trees, but Mabey suggests that trees often do better when left to their own devices. At the same time, he is careful not to dismiss out of hand our man-made efforts to promote woodlands. Nor should I mislead you into believing this is primarily a piece of polemical writing, because it is not. Essentially, this is a history of Beech woodlands in England and how they developed both because of and in spite of the actions of their human neighbours. ( )