"Some five years ago, I sought solace from the ways of the world by stepping into the embrace of an ancient oak tree . . . From the first meeting, there grew a strange sense of attachment I did not consciously recognise until I later began to realise the significance that trees, and oak trees especially, can have in our lives."

In The Oak Papers, James Canton shares two years spent in the steady presence of the Honywood Oak, a vast, centuries-old tree that first sprouted around the time Magna Carta was signed. What began as a place of solace becomes a place of learning. As Canton returns again and again, he discovers how careful attention to a single tree can open up a much wider story: one of ecology, folklore, myth and our enduring human connection to oaks.

Through gentle observations and thoughtful reflections, he explores how our relationship with trees has evolved through time, and what they continue to offer us in an age when stillness and rootedness feel increasingly rare.

A beautifully meditative and transformative book, The Oak Papers invites us to slow down, listen more closely, and rediscover the grounding wisdom of the natural world.