Ghost Trees: Nature and People in a London Parish

Wainwright Golden Beer Prize, 2019: LONGLISTED; Rathbones Folio Prize, 2019: LONGLISTED; "Lyrical and beautifully evocative ... in a language as rich and lilting as the contours of the estuarine land ... A delight." Richard Jones, BBC Countryfile magazine; "Ghost Trees will awaken any Londoner to the plants that cling on in the city's cracks." Guardian, Books of the Year; "Informative, enjoyable, enchanting. A book that, in the best sense, educates. It is well written with the occasional alliterative poetic cast. It is a book full of delights which makes one look again, achieving the mystic's gift of seeing the ordinary as anything but." Kevin Scully, Church Times; "One of the best non-fiction books about London. Bob Gilbert's gifted style of writing [and] simple, clear but hilarious storytelling helps to make this secret life of trees an unlikely page-turner." The Londonist; "Warm, rich and fascinating... [Gilbert] is a generous guide, with a deep knowledge of plant life and a fine turn of phrase." Jon Day, Guardian; "Profoundly uplifting: Gilbert's keen eye reveals the wealth of wild - and weird - species that cling on against the odds in a global city, and enrich its residents' lives in unheralded ways." Guardian; "Absorbing." The Bookseller; "Its tone warm and its content wide-ranging, Ghost Trees spans history and social history, folklore, religion and walking as well as nature - but Gilbert wears his vast knowledge lightly and shares it engagingly and entertainingly." Clare Wadd, Caught by the River; "Ghost Trees is a reflective book, about personal reaction and engagement. Reading it is like spending time with a knowledgeable uncle who is keen to share his enthusiasms." Jeremy Crump, Living Maps; "Fascinating." Joe Shute, Sunday Telegraph; "Full of deep truths and improbable marvels, this beautifully observed book is a joyous hymn to the urban wild and a clarion call for better - greener, wilder - cities." Patrick Barkham, natural history writer