A sweeping natural history of the most valuable trees on earth that have quietly transformed our economies, cultural traditions, and collective imagination for millennia.

Every December, homes, offices, and town squares around the world are adorned with lavishly decorated evergreens to ring in the holiday season. But how did this beloved tradition begin? And as the planet continues to warm and more people swap real trees for artificial ones, will Christmas trees still be here for future generations?

InEvergreen,Cornell University professorTrentPreszlertakes us on a riveting journey through history, culture, and science, exploring Americas story through the lives of its most resilient and cherished trees. From the annual hunt for the perfect Rockefeller Center spruce, back to the earliest days when Ancestral Puebloan builders crafted remarkable dwellings from pine beams,Evergreenreveals surprising connections between past and present that fueled Americas rise to global prominence.

With masterly prose and a cinematic eye,Preszlercaptures the enduring struggle between natures grandeur and humanitys desire to control and consume it. At once expansive and intimate,Evergreendelivers a stirring reflection on what it means to live in a world where Christmas trees stand as silent witnesses to our restless ambition, challenging us to reconsider the delicate balance between commercial excess and our profound yearning for hope and immortality.