Trees in Paradise

A California History

By: Jared Farmer

Narrated by: Kevin Scollin

Length: 19 hrs and 13 mins

Publisher's summary

From roots to canopy, a lush, verdant history of the making of California.

California now has more trees than at any time since the late Pleistocene. This green landscape, however, is not the work of nature. It’s the work of history. In the years after the Gold Rush, American settlers remade the California landscape, harnessing nature to their vision of the good life. Horticulturists, boosters, and civic reformers began to "improve" the bare, brown countryside, planting millions of trees to create groves, wooded suburbs, and landscaped cities. They imported the blue-green eucalypts whose tangy fragrance was thought to cure malaria. They built the lucrative "Orange Empire" on the sweet juice and thick skin of the Washington navel, an industrial fruit. They lined their streets with graceful palms to announce that they were not in the Midwest anymore. To the north the majestic coastal redwoods inspired awe and invited exploitation. A resource in the state, the durable heartwood of these timeless giants became infrastructure, transformed by the saw teeth of American enterprise. By 1900 timber firms owned the entire redwood forest; by 1950 they had clear-cut almost all of the old-growth trees.

In time California’s new landscape proved to be no paradise: The eucalypts in the Berkeley hills exploded in fire; the orange groves near Riverside froze on cold nights; Los Angeles’s palms harbored rats and dropped heavy fronds on the streets below. Disease, infestation, and development all spelled decline for these nonnative evergreens. In the north, however, a new forest of second-growth redwood took root, nurtured by protective laws and sustainable harvesting. Today there are more California redwoods than there were a century ago.

Rich in character and story, Trees in Paradise is a dazzling narrative that offers an insightful, new perspective on the history of the Golden State and the American West.

©2013 Jared Farmer (P)2013 Audible Inc.

Wonderful natural and socioeconomic history

Would you listen to Trees in Paradise again? Why?

The book is jam packed with amazing content and history that it is a must to listen again and again for thorough enjoyment.

Any additional comments?

The organization and foundation of the book are thoughtfully appropriate. Farmer presents a perfect balance in storytelling between the natural history of trees and it's socioeconomic one-ness with the vastness of the great state of California.

Really well researched and enjoyable to read

I absolutely loved this book. It should be so much more well known then it is, but I guess it's kind of a niche product. I've also read the Hidden Lives of Trees book which has gained so much press, and I have to say this one is much better in my opinion.
Incredibly well researched but easily approachable and interesting. It never comes off as too dry or academic. Will give you a great sense of the ways that trees have influenced both California and the larger society.
Hope to read more by this author in the future

Fantastically researched

Amazing book, a California history described in tremendous detail through the trees that define the landscape. Truly a singular book!

One of the greatest books written about California

This was absolutely one of the greatest histories of California that I have ever read. I really loved the detail that the author went into describing how California's tree culture has affected its present. being one who lives in one of these discussed environments it is wonderful to have a better understanding of how my surroundings came to be. he gives me more of an appreciation for the land I live in but understanding that much of it has come here with a false pretense. yes there was initially some Grand gold discovered and I mean that in many ways but like so many things in this state none of it has lasted long and we are here to figure out what is going to be the next "gold rush" in the great CA. I really appreciated the political background that this book talked about because these are things I see everyday they are sad truths but they are still truths of the reality of the state. I wish everything was as seemingly perfect as they often are in advertisements about the region and the climate and the like. however it has taken muscle to create those wonderful trees that are to be enjoyed or whose fruit are to be enjoyed. I really appreciated learning about them and it will be actually personally pushing me more to research deeper into the subject. Fantastic, highly, highly recommended book!

Excellent book! Very impressed

Well-researched, easy listen, and really interesting.. Topics /4 chapters were clearly defined and laid out . Surprising and interesting how much of California’s trees are non-indigenous and how much humans changed the environment in such a short time.

I loved this book!

This book was fantastic for anyone who is curious about California's history. I live in Riverside, a major player in the citrus industry discussed in this book. While I personally loved the citrus aspect, all four of the tree's history in the state were fascinating. I never knew tree's had such an impact on California's success. I hope to re-read this book again soon as it was smartly written, well organized and full of stories of how these trees impacted those who lived among them.

lovely audiobook

Wonderful construct to learn about the history of California! Very well researched! I'd highly recommend to any tree or history buff

Five stars for California's four trees

First saw this book in a bookstore in California. Flipped to the second part on eucalyptus, read the first couple pages and let out a gut laugh. Knew I had to get the audiobook, listened while driving through California visiting its trees. Interesting history on four trees that define California: Redwood, Eucalyptus, Citrus, and Palm. The author has a good sense of humor that the narrator brought through. Paradise is always good for a few laughs.