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World Woods in Colour is one of only a few Books that exist on the subject of Wood Identification, plenty on Trees but often in the Workshop the Wood you are about to use has lost its Leaves and Bark not to mention you have perhaps considerably less than 1% of the original Tree, so you will not know its Shape all of which help in the Identification of Trees.

Their are an estimated 70,000+ different Woods in existence, with only a handful (approx. 400) being commercially available, World Woods in Colour introduces you to just 267 Woods, from Abura (which I have never seen or used) to Zebrano (which most of us have at some time Turned I'm sure).

Although we see only two thirds of the commercially available woods here many have numerous sub species which are listed, but not illustrated and it is not clear whether these form part of the original 400 Commercially available Woods or not?

Each page of this Book is dedicated to a Wood Type and as well as a Colour Picture, hence the Books Title, you are given a wealth of information, Commercial Names, Other Names, Distribution, Description etc. these use descriptive words so the reader can judge the Working Properties, Durability and Seasoning all of which are covered in the introduction.

I often take this Book with me when I sell at Craft Fairs as people generally like to talk about Wood and often ask you to identify some piece of Wood they have, the interesting debate that can arise out of the fact that Balsa Wood is a Hard Wood Species where as Yew is a Soft Wood can ramble on for a considerable time.

The trouble generally with Wood is that no two pieces are always the same and this leads to some interesting pictures in this book, for instance I recently purchased a Wood called Muhuhu which sure enough is listed in the book but I must say my Muhuhu piece was definitely not the same piece they photographed, although the description given does suggest that I in fact did have the right name for my piece of Wood, although the Colouring is somewhat different from the Photograph in the Book.

This is a good quality reference book and has served it's purpose for me many times and is well worth having especially if you want to impress everyone by naming all 267 Woods Commercially available.

World Woods in Colour, by William A. Lincoln
Published by Stobart Davies Ltd. ISBN 0 85442 028 2

The Ultimate Interiors Book, Wood, to give this Book it's full title, this volume could be termed a Coffee Table Book but in fact is an informative source of information on most forms of Wooden Furniture and Treen from Colonial to Shaker Styles.

As one would expect from such a book the Photographs are stunning and really give a taste of how Wood has been used over the years for Furniture, Treen, Building and for Work, with sections on Paneling and Beams, Toys, Collections, Carvings, Clocks, Decoy Ducks plus many more, in fact if it has ever been made in Wood then it probably is shown here.

There is a section on the Woods traditionally used, Ash, Beech, Cherry, Elm, Oak, Pine and Yew are all discussed and illustrated, for instance the illustration for the Yew, has an Old Yew Tree as a backdrop for a Longbow and a Windsor Chair both of which have for years been traditionally made from Yew.

There is something for every Woodturner, Cabinet Maker, Carver and Chair Bodger, Wood Enthusiast if your Hobby or Trade involves Wood then this is a very good Book.

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