The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate—Discoveries from a Secret World

Peter Wohlleben is a German author and forestry expert. He is the author of numerous successful books about nature including The Inner Life of Animals and Walks in the Wild. Wohlleben worked as a professional forester in Germany for many years, where he managed a forest in the Eifel mountains. He now runs his own forestry academy in Germany called Wohlleben’s Waldakademie.

Wohlleben’s background in forestry lends The Hidden Life of Trees more credibility, especially since he combines his own opinions with other scientists’ research. He brings his expertise and personal anecdotes to his work; his direct observations of tree life in the Eifel mountains enliven his work and help create a vivid picture of forest phenomena for the reader. Wohlleben was trained as a forester in the 1980s in Germany and, through his own experiences working in forestry, has come to adopt a different approach to silviculture than the conventional methods he was taught. In addition to educating the reader about how trees and forests function, Wohlleben also uses this book as an opportunity to persuade the public that there are ethical and unethical approaches to forestry, and that silviculture methods should respect the way trees instinctively want to grow, communicate, and reproduce.