Environmentalist Eric Rutkow presents a remarkable and thoroughly researched book about how trees have shaped American history, and in turn how forests have been shaped by history,. He shows that trees were essential to the early years of the republic and indivisible from the country's rise as both an empire and a civilization. Rutkow writes about characters like Johnny Appleseed, Henry David Thoreau, and of course, George Washington and his cherry tree.
Eric Rutkow is a graduate of Yale University and Harvard Law School. He has worked as a lawyer on environmental issues. Currently he is pursuing a doctorate in American history at Yale.