The Man Who Planted Trees

Summary

Discover this beloved masterpiece of nature writing that is a hymn to creation and the power of the individual to do their bit to change the world for the better.

In 1910, while hiking through the wild lavender in a wind-swept, desolate valley in Provence, a man comes across a shepherd called Elzéard Bouffier. Staying with him, he watches Elzéard sorting and then planting hundreds of acorns as he walks through the wilderness.

Ten years later, after surviving the First World War, he visits the shepherd again and sees the young forest he has created spreading slowly over the valley. Elzéard’s solitary, silent work continues and the narrator returns year after year to see the miracle he is gradually creating: a verdant, green landscape that is a testament to one man’s creative instinct.

A beautiful story of hope, survival and selflessness, The Man Who Planted Trees resonates as strongly today as when it was first published.

Translated by Peter Doyle.