From the photographer of Ancient Trees, a tribute to the best-loved tree of all: the oak. The oak: One of nature's most majestic creations, sacred to Zeus and Thor, capable of living for a thousand years. But also a familiar friend, the landmark of childhood backyards and parks, host to treehouses and swings, provider of welcome shade. In this beautiful volume, published in the same oversize square format as her best seller Ancient Trees, America's foremost tree portraitist, Beth Moon, pays tribute to the oak. She captures every stage of its life cycle, from the acorn to the seedling to the sapling. Most of her hand-tinted full-page photographs, however, are devoted to mature oaks of the United States and the United Kingdom-both anonymous specimens whose gnarled, leafy personalities reveal themselves to her sensitive eye and famous trees with their own names and recorded histories stretching back centuries. A poetic text by the photographer traces the life cycle of the oak, and an essay illuminates the natural and cultural history of the genus Quercus. This book will be a must for all tree lovers, and anyone who has an oak in their yard. AUTHOR: Beth Moon, a photographer based in the San Francisco Bay area, has gained international recognition for her large-scale, richly toned platinum-palladium prints. Her other books include Ancient Trees: Portraits of Time; Ancient Skies, Ancient Trees; and Literary Chickens, all by Abbeville Press. SELLING POINTS: . A spectacular new book from the foremost photographer of trees, Beth Moon . A tribute to the best-loved tree-the oak-in beautiful hand-tinted black-and-white photographs . Features magnificent specimens from across the US, UK, and Europe, as well as evocative shots of acorns and seedlings . Accompanied by a poetic text by the photographer, as well as an essay on the natural history of oaks . Published in the same oversize square format as Moon's best-selling Ancient Trees (38,000 copies in print)