American Canopy

Written by a promising young historian, AMERICAN CANOPY tells the extraordinary story of the relationship between Americans and trees across the entire span of the nation's history (Scribner; on-sale April 17, 2012). Like bestsellers Michael Pollan with Second Nature and Mark Kurlansky with Cod, Eric Rutkow reconceives America's historical relationship with the trees and forests that shaped the development of the nation.

As symbols of liberty, community, and civilization, trees are perhaps the loudest silent figures in America's complicated history. Without trees, there would have been no ships, railroads, stockyards, wagons, barrels, furniture, newspapers, rifles, or firewood. How would we have built New York City, and Chicago? How would we have moved further west to the Pacific? A considerable part of the American ethos is the optimistic hard work necessary for building workable civilization out of undeveloped wilderness-and trees literally provided the tools necessary.

Chock full of colorful characters like Johnny Appleseed, Benjamin Franklin, FDR, and of course George Washington and his cherry tree, AMERICAN CANOPY is as accessible and entertaining as it is thoroughly-researched. Readers will learn

As early as 1605, the British Crown coveted the trees of New England for use in building heavy wooden war ships FDR's Civilian Construction Corp was the largest non-military governmental workforce in US history, and planted 35 million trees. He was personally obsessed with trees and planted thousands on his own estate. At his death the lumber baron Frederick Weyerhaeuser controlled more than 50 million acres of the Pacific Northwest, an area larger than the state of Wisconsin During World War II, the Japanese tried to burn down the great forests of the Northwest, sending some 8,000 fire balloons aloft in the upper atmosphere with hopes they would land in the US.

AMERICAN CANOPY is a one-of-a-kind read that's perfect for history buffs and nature lovers alike, and Eric Rutkow is a writer to watch. I hope to hear from you soon about coverage in your May plans.

ERIC RUTKOW, a graduate of Yale University and Harvard Law School, has worked as a lawyer on environmental issues. He splits his time between New York and New Haven, Connecticut, where he is pursuing a doctorate in American History at Yale. This is his first book.