The Great Wood

The Great Wood is a wonderful exploration of what might have been the Great Wood of Caledonia.

James Crumley writes with passion but also with honesty in this book, returning again to the idea of wolves in Scotland, looking at the entire ecology of the area and wanting to return to a ‘natural’ balance.

I was enchanted by this book as we know people who are part of the reforestation in Scotland, a small part but still part of it, returning land to what could have been the natural forestation of the Glens, using native species and ecologically-driven land management techniques.

Jim wants this to happen, but is not romantically blinkered by the legends of an all encompassing forest and is realistic about its possible return.

This book stands with books like Nan Shepherd in its outlook on the Scottish landscape and is worth reading again to pick up Jim’s passion for the land.