By Ken Schultz

This book was published in 2001 in England. Constance Tindale lives in England and winters in Egypt. I say that up front so that if you decide to purchase this or any of the books I review, you are aware that there may be some climatic issues with growing advice. England has a milder climate, and the materials used for bonsai may differ. I selected this book for my personal library for a number of reasons. Having read and reviewed a number of books, I usually stand in the bookstore and try to decide: Are the photos decent? Did I see a project or stying series that I may want to try? Are there species of trees that I have, or wish I had discussed in the text? This book passed all the tests, and I found it at a half price bookstore, making it affordable.

I previously reported on the Classic Bonsai of Japan book, it is first a photo gallery of outstanding specimens; in contrast this book has a good deal of text with smaller photographs illustrating the points that the author is trying to make.

This book is organized into four major parts; 1) Knowing the tree; part one covers history, how trees grow, bonsai sizes and shapes and buying and growing bonsai material. This last section is done very well. 2) Caring for the tree; part two covers tools and pots, watering, feeding and display, maintenance pruning, repotting, and pests and diseases. This section alone contains more good basic information than many other books on the market. 3) Creating the Tree, part three covers: suitable bonsai stock, jins and sharis, wiring, rocks and landscapes and groups and rafts. The wiring chapter has a number of very good photo series that take the reader form fairly rough stock through initial styling. Part 4 covers project and case histories. One of the projects is a very do-able Saikai.

If there is a problem with this book, it is that it presents an amazing amount of information. Some of the tidbits are placed in a yellow field to bring attention to the subject presented. I am still discovering new information in this book.