Evergreen: The Trees That Shaped America

The Cornell community and wider public are invited to a talk featuring Trent Preszler and his book Evergreen: The Trees That Shaped America (Little, Brown & Co., 2025). From the redwood cathedrals of the West and the bedrock lumber industries of the East to the crafted interiors and treasured winter holiday arrangements found in homes across the U.S., evergreens have played a pivotal role in American culture and history. In his book, Preszler takes readers on a transcontinental journey of Christmas trees from prehistoric times through today, making a powerful case that the American cultural landscape and economy would not be the same without evergreens. The author also touches on surprising connections between the past and present to offer thoughtful reflections about our country’s enduring struggle between nature’s grandeur and our desire to control and consume it.

A former winemaker and boatbuilder, Preszler is a professor of practice in the Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management at Cornell University and serves as director of the Henry David Thoreau Foundation’s Planetary Solutions Initiative. Evergreen is his second book and was longlisted for the 2026 PEN America E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award.

This book talk is part of Cornell University Library's "Chats in the Stacks" series. While we warmly welcome participation in person, virtual attendance for this book talk is also possible. To register: https://cornell.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Va9thqDYQAmIyI93w4wboQ

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