American Chestnut: The Life, Death, and Rebirth of a Perfect Tree Paperback – April 1, 2009

Thorough account and engrossing narrative

Although this book (paperback version) was published in 2009, nothing much has changed in the story of the American Chestnut. There still is no gene-spliced version of the tree that is blight resistant. The best backcross version still does not offer that much blight resistance. The major attempts to attack the blight are almost all covered in this book. If you are looking for a good book that covers the story of the American Chestnut, this is probably still the best.

...wonder no more.The epic saga of the demise of the American Chestnut is contained in this book. This incredibly well researched account traces the fall of the chestnut, and the saga of the people who have tried to revive the tree in the US, while pointing out why it is important.Having only completed 4 decades of life myself, I don't remember ever seeing a living chestnut tree. However, like many people, I heard tales of roasting chestnuts in Christmas carols, and remember my parents and grandparents talking about them. This book tells you why those people thought the trees were so important, and tells a tale so tragic it may just bring tears to your eyes.The book is well researched, but very readable, and very interesting. Strongly recommended for anyone interested in the impacts humans can unwittingly have on the environment around us.

I love the book itself, however, the printer didn’t print the type dark enough. It makes it hard to read.

I knew an old hill man in Kentucky who would talk about the chestnuts. The beauty of the forest in the spring, the quality of the wood, how people would raise hogs in the woods, and how all the trees died. For hill people, the chestnut was a tree of life. Its eradication from the forest was like mankind staying, while the Garden of Eden was driven out. He showed us old stumps, their huge outer ring still not rotted, and little sprout trees that were certain to die. This book captures the depth of the tragedy, especially the passages on heroic but doomed efforts to save the trees in the early years of the blight. A Pandora's box of woes empties as the American giants disappear by the millions. There is a theme of arrogance and repeated failure, helpless to stop a biological invader that won. Yet there is also hope. Some chestnuts, even large ones, survive. The surprisingly longstanding breeding programs, strengthened by the science of genetics, offer real hope of a chestnut renaissance. But the new chestnuts will not win. They will harbor and coexist with the organism that nearly wiped out a race of trees. Pandora's box can't be closed, but this book offers a vision of chestnut forests hundreds of years in the future.

American Chestnut by Susan Freinkel reads like a murder mystery novel that has merged with the six million dollar man tv show. Only this story about the chestnut tree is true and we aren't ever sure whether 'We can rebuild him.' We still aren't sure if 'We have the technology.'I enjoyed the book. I couldn't put it down in fact. But I confess to having a love affair with both trees and all things Appalachian. I do really wish the book had contained more than one photo and one diagram. I found myself constantly web surfing to find places, and photos of trees, discussed within the book.Also, I purchased the book in 2016 but the facts of the book seem to go no further than 2006. For a book that so despairingly confronts the reader with the limitations that time brings to the save-the-chestnut quest, I wish for at least a small epilogue explaining any breakthroughs that have come along since the book was first printed in 2009.If you love trees, I recommend you buy the book.

Somehow over the last 100 years the American public has come to believe that the oak tree is THE all American tree, THE symbol of strength and longevity. Well, this book reminds us of what the American public has forgotten, that the oak tree once had a big brother, a tree that grew faster, grew taller, and lived longer. A tree that produced a wood as rot resistant as redwood, and every fall gave us very tasty and highly nutritious nuts. It was indeed as close to a perfect tree as you can imagine.This is a great book not only because it tells the tale of the American chestnut and its near demise so well, but also because it goes into great detail about the current restoration efforts and the often hidden "political" battles inside the major organization fighting to restore the chestnut, the American Chestnut Foundation.

If you are a student of the Columbian Exhange, or someone interested in American ecology, this is a great story about the near extinction of one of the majore species in our forest, and the potential of its resurrection. The author covers a lot of science, but does so in a way that the layman can follow. It leaves you with hope for our future.