Know Your Woods

"Know Your Woods, A Complete Guide to TREES, Woods and Veneers", first copyrighted in 1959, has photo illustrations of woods and trees and wood grains....some, you may not find elesewhere. It has been brought up to date by Harry Hobbs, with the original author's guidance, Albert Constantine Jr. Purchased for my husband, who loves eveything wood, from tree to carving,to hiking it is a thorough paperback encyclopoedia on the subject of all things wood. The chapters include anything you could ask: Drugs from trees ( chemotherapy from yew and juniper), State trees, trees from distant parts of the globe, even Woods of the Bible, as well as more technical discussions on appearance, qualities, naming and identification. IF YOU DOUBT THE VALUE OF WHAT IS BEING DESTROYED TODAY, BY FIRE, AXE, GIRDLING, POISON, THIS BOOK SHOUD WAKE YOU UP WITH ALL ITS WONDERFUL DETAIL. This is before we get to discussions of wildlife habitat, erosiion, upped insurance rates, and loss of natural carbon sequestration. A TREE can stand alone.

The book is very thorough and suits my needs....It would be 5 star winner if it had been in color

I have the 1959 edition of this book and I have to say it's been invaluable! Covering everything from tree bark to the nuance of woodgrain, KYW is essential reading in wood expertise.

I have got the 1959 edition, but have the feeling the book has not changed much since then. In 1959 this was an above-average book aimed at the general public. It illustrates the woods treated by distribution maps, botanical line drawings and black-and-white photographs. Content was pretty good, with the names, both scientific and trade names, very much in order. Today it indeed looks quite dated, and the black-and-white photographs do look sad. These days, a much more attractive book with the same content could be put together. However, I don't really know any book that actually does this (and the most likely candidates cost a lot more). All in all, I'd still recommend this book for a wood library, although obviously it would be a poor choice as a first (or second or third) book. There are more attractive books on the market today, and this is dated, but not really superseded.

This book seems to be complete and informative for basic information about the subject matter. It is a good reference for basic information. The reader must look elsewhere for detailed information (such as would be of interest to engineers, scientists, and luthiers).