Michael Heathcoat Amory inherited Chevithorne Barton in Devon from his grandmother. She had experienced the unimaginable loss of her husband in the First War and their three sons in the Second, including the author’s father. Creating a garden at Chevithorne was a consoling distraction. Michael Heathcoat Amory has done her and his family proud, transforming Chevithorne over a mere 25 years into one of the world’s great arboretums. His passion is the oak. He now has 282 of the 500 extant species, of which 190 are catalogued in this handsome book. His model introduction is supplemented by three specialist essays. The photographic illustrations reveal that many oaks are unrecognisable as relatives of our emblematic tree, Quercus robur. Mexico has the most species and Chevithorne’s collection of them is unmatched. If you want to plant an oak — and who would not? — you must have this book.