Collins British Tree Guide (Collins Pocket Guide)

Not quite pocket size but the illustrations inside look really lovely!

Has to be a 5-star rating because of the superlative text and illustrations. This is an authoritative and expert attempt to provide a practical, accessible and up-to-date guide to British trees. Some 400 - species, subspecies, cultivars, etc. - are included and I cannot think of anyone better placed than Owen Johnson to make such a selection, based on a thorough working knowledge of what is actually out there. His text exudes precision, clarity and wit, with "botanical terminology .. kept to a bare minimum". David More's beautiful illustrations do just that - they illustrate and illuminate the text, and do it on the same page, offering an improvement on the traditional Peterson format. BUT. The publishers have chosen a heavy art paper (presumably to support the illustrations) which is so firmly sewn and glued that is impossible to follow the author's first instruction, to "simply thumb through the illustrations". This book is not susceptible to simply thumbing. You have to learn the layout of the book because the Contents page is no easier to open than most of the others. Even with use, the book springs open to the centres of each 'section'; the individual pages become no less inseparable. In the field, with cold fingers, this can be irritating. I really hope Collins can rethink the problem for future editions because the text and illustrations are the best. So, buy this excellent guide, but be prepared for continual frustration!

The images in the book are well illistrated, it pronounces the features of each species making it easy to identify different species. The words are consise and follow the same patterns making the descriptions easyier to remember.There is also a guide at the front of the book that helps you understand the rest of the book, which comes in handy due to the language used in the book can be a bit confusing at times. That being said, I am dyslexic and the abundance of illistrations make the "Confusing" words, easyier to interprit.

With hindsight I should have studied the reviews more closely before purchasing this "Pocket Guide". As a layperson I was after a guide that would assist me in identifying trees. Other guides I have seen incorporate keys to identifying features (such as leaves or flowers) which then direct you to the appropriate pages in order to narrow your search. This book has no keys whatsoever. To identify a tree you are instructed to "thumb" through each page in turn until you find something similar. This makes the book a royal pain to use in the field as potentially you have to search the entire book for each new species to be identified. I would say it is more of a catalogue of trees than a 'guide'. As such I feel it was a waste of money and it has already been relegated to my book shelf.Having subsequently purchased British Trees: A photographic guide to every common species (Collins Complete Guide) by Paul Sterry I can honestly say that, though by no means perfect, this is a far better book for field use.

I bought this Collins Tree book because their Bird Guide is excellent so I assumed the tree guide would be the same AND it is . Excellent

Bought for my son who is going into tree surgery and wanted to get to know how to identify different trees, he has found it very useful and its small enough to carry around with him at work

This book is beautifully presented and has loads of information, but I found it very difficult to work with. All we want to do is sus out which tree is which; not for beginners.

The drawings and text really help to identify and distinguish between trees and their variants. I combine this with the Collins British Trees photographic guide for a better feel for the trees 'as seen'.