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Yew

The books are arranged by publication date with the most recent at the top.

There are a number of pages covering books about British trees:

Identification guides
Urban trees
Hedgerows

More pages will be added as time allows.

For books about some specific families or species of trees see:

Ash
Elm
Hazel
Lime
Oak
Poplar
Rowan
Willow
Yew

The Ancient Yew: A History of Taxus baccata

Robert Bevan-Jones

3rd edition

2016

"This book tells the extraordinary story of the yew's role in the landscape through the millennia, and makes a convincing case for the origins of many of the oldest trees, as markers of the holy places founded by Celtic saints in the early medieval ‘Dark Ages'. With wonderful photographic portraits of ancient yews and a gazetteer (with locations) of the oldest yew trees in Britain, the book brings together for the first time all the evidence about the dating, history, archaeology and cultural connections of the yew. Robert Bevan-Jones discusses its history, biology, the origins of its name, the yew berry and its toxicity, its distribution across Britain, means of dating examples, and their association with folklore, with churchyards, abbeys, springs, pre-Reformation wells and as landscape markers. This third edition has an updated introduction with new photographs and corrections to the main text."

Yew

Fred Hageneder

Reaktion Books

2013

"This comprehensive, richly illustrated cultural and natural history includes the latest scientific discoveries about this remarkable tree. The book will appeal to botanists and the general reader, as well as anyone interested in the history and symbolism of the natural world."

Yew: A History

Fred Hageneder

2011

"Fred Hageneder's fascinating book is the first to cover all aspects of the botany as well as the cultural history and mythology of the genus Taxus. This is the remarkable story of the oldest living things in Europe."

Trees of the Celtic Saints: The Ancient Yews of Wales

Andrew Morton

2009

"Andrew Morton looks at the botanical characteristics of yew trees, and how to measure and age them; at yew trees in pre-Christian and Christian literature, myths and legends; and at the connections between yews and the sites of ancient Christian settlements. Includes detailed case studies of ancient yew trees at Defynnog, Gwytherin, Llangernyw, Llanerfyl and Pennant Melangell."

The Ancient Yew: A History of Taxus baccata

Robert Bevan-Jones

2nd edition

2004

"The yew has an important place in the British landscape and cultural heritage and here Robert Bevan-Jones discusses its history, biology, the origins of its name, the yew berry and its toxicity, its distribution across Britain, means of dating examples, and their association with folklore, with churchyards, abbeys, springs, pre-Reformation wells and as landscape markers. Includes a gazetteer of examples."

The Ancient Yew: A History of Taxus baccata

Robert Bevan-Jones

1st edition

2002

"In this book Robert Bevan Jones paints a many-sided portrait of this extraordinary tree and of the role it has played in history. The author explores the botanical, historical, cultural and archaeological connections of the yew, Taxus baccata. He reviews the various attempts that have been made to date ancient yew trees, and concludes that many of them are certainly over a thousand years old; some of the oldest specimens may even be linked to the cells of early Celtic Saints. The book includes photographic portraits of famous ancient yews by landscape photographers Andy McGeeney and Mick Sharp, as well as beautiful nineteenth-century etchings."

The Eternal Yew

Trevor Baxter

1992