Wood: Craft, Culture, History

A superbly entertaining, wide-ranging investigation of wood through history, culture, art, and science We build our houses with it, burn it for warmth, carve it for beauty, sail in it, sit on it, play with it, and fight with it—yet how much do we really understand about the history and culture of wood? In this rich and fascinating book, Harvey Green examines how wood in all its variety of form and function has contributed to an extraordinary range of human endeavors. Wood reveals the history and culture of a substance that has been a central part of human life throughout the world for thousands of years. From the prized whorls of bird’s-eye maple to the oak and pine that made navies and empires, from the breathtaking stave churches of Norway to the enduring popularity of the Windsor chair, from the magic of turning to the grace of a Chinese chair, and from the botany of the baseball bat to the stunning carving of Native Americans of the northwest coast, Wood decodes how a seemingly common material has come to signal class, status, and authenticity. Using the historian’s craft and the woodworker’s hand, Green has fashioned an authoritative book sure to interest all who love this amazing material, appreciate its history, and care about its future.