Thomas Pakenham Books

After the worldwide success of his previous work, MEETINGS WITH REMARKABLE TREES - a stunning collection of 60 individual trees (and groups of trees) in Britain and Ireland chosen for their unusually strong personalities - Thomas Pakenham decided to hunt down and photograph another 60 remarkable trees scattered throughout the globe for REMARKABLE TREES OF THE WORLD. Now, for the very first time, Thomas Pakenham's complete ten-year tree odyssey is available in a beautiful two-book presentation slipcase. The perfect gift for all those who marvel at the wonders of nature.

From North and South America to Europe, from Asia and South Africa and Madagascar to Australia and New Zealand, this text presents trees of personality and presence: Dwarfs, Giants, Monuments, and Aliens - the lovingly tended midgets of Japan; the massive General Sherman of Sierra Nevada; the Mexican Tule Bald Cypress; the enormous strangler from India now romping about the University of Palermo in Sicily; and the 4700 year old Old Methusalehs. From ancient yews and ginkos to colossal redwoods and fairytale baobabs, this book is the fruit of Thomas Pakenham's search for the most remarkable trees of the world.

Thomas Pakenham's classic, bestselling book, repackaged beautifully as an Abacus History Great

Rasselas is a tale of the royal princes of Abyssinia, who were condemned to live on the prison-mountain of Wehni until they died or the order of succession called them to the throne. How much of this was truth and how much legend? The author of Meetings with Remarkable Trees, Thomas Pakenham traveled to Ethiopia to find out. The predicament of the prisoners had been even more melodramatic than previously surmised. And an incredible archeological discovery was a medieval church of the finest style ever recorded. Nearly 40 years after the story was published in 1959, Pakenham returned to the Mountain. In this edition, historical insight and new color photography are added to the original story. 176 pages (all in color), 9 1/2 x 11 3/8.

Thomas Pakenham, no stranger to Africa with his award-winning books The Boer War and The Scramble for Africa, nor to remarkable trees with his bestselling Remarkable Trees of the World, combines his two interests on safari in Southern Africa. His particular quarry is the rare, the giant, the very old, the extraordinary, or the simply beautiful - from a giant baobab and a prickly quiver tree in Namibia to a glorious jacaranda in South Africa and sesame bushes attacked by elephants in Botswana. He uncovers trees written about by the great explorers of the past, or associated with magic, folklore, or ritual.The narrative accompanying each image interweaves the stories of Pakenham's own journey - at some moments scaling trees to escape from enraged wildlife, while at others standing in awe before a particular tree, connected by some primitive, atavistic bond - with those of the trees themselves, imbuing each with personality and presence. The result is a beautifully crafted blend of botany and social history, the product of a brilliant photographer, an original mind, and a superlative writer.

This volume offers a photographic study of the impact of trees on our lives and our surroundings. It looks at a different climate zone from the arctic north to the tropical south, describing the native trees in their natural habitat, their relationship and importance to man over the centuries.

In 1880 the continent of Africa was largely unexplored by Europeans. Less than thirty years later, only Liberia and Ethiopia remained unconquered by them. The rest - 10 million square miles with 110 million bewildered new subjects - had been carved up by five European powers (and one extraordinary individual) in the name of Commerce, Christianity, ‘Civilization’ and Conquest. The Scramble for Africa is the first full-scale study of that extraordinary episode in history.

In 1880 the continent of Africa was largely unexplored by Europeans. Less than thirty years later, only Liberia and Ethiopia remained unconquered by them. The rest - 10 million square miles with 110 million bewildered new subjects - had been carved up by five European powers (and one extraordinary individual) in the name of Commerce, Christianity, 'Civilization' and Conquest. The Scramble for Africa is the first full-scale study of that extraordinary episode in history.

The classic account of the great Irish rebellion of 1798 schovat popis