A story of lying, miracles, wonder and ways of the imagination.

From the bazaars of Jerusalem in the last years of the 19th century to the monasteries of Northumbria 800 years earlier, from the gates of paradise to the end of time, The One and Only Tree travels back and forth along the great east-west routes forged by crusaders, pilgrims and merchants, through seven millennia of real and imagined time, through history and make-believe. It tells the story of one of the most remarkable objects in the history of civilization – the cross on which Christ was crucified – and the story of that story: of the poets, khatibs, archaeologists, kings, painters and adventurers who have told it.

Tracing the twists and turns of the complete tale, you walk in the footsteps of the Bogomil heretics in their exile, share a hookah with a Maronite Christian through a long afternoon’s storytelling, look over the shoulder of Agnolo Gaddi as he paints the first fresco to bring all three legends together. You will discover too, the beguiling gnostic and apocryphal books of the bible that scholars are still wrestling with today, overhear a khatib in Palestine in the 1890s pointing out the pillars that supported the wood of the cross when it was a bridge in the time of Solomon, the bridge that the Queen of Sheba refused to step upon when she foresaw what it would become.

The One and Only Tree is as much about creativity as about belief. It is about our powers of invention and the well-springs of the narrative impulse, the urge to tell a story that encompasses all the world and all its hopes, a story that offers a key to a thousand years of humanity’s artistic endeavour. Absurd and magical, familiar and alien, here are tales that might have been written by Neil Gaiman or Ursula K. le Guin and they totally confound our sense of what to expect from bible stories and ancient literature. This is the story of the happy tree, the wondrous tree, the one and only noble tree.

PRAISE FOR THE ROAD:

A TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR

‘There’s something beguilingly mysterious about these ancient roads … When searching for his road, Hadley makes full use of his senses… the breadth of his knowledge … the beauty of his prose. This book deserves to be read at least twice, first to appreciate what it reveals and then to luxuriate in its effervescent voice. On nearly every page a random passage takes one’s breath away’ The Times, Gerard DeGroot

‘Magnificent … exciting … This is no dry and prosaic history, but a work of imagination and a deeply literary book… wonderful prose … striking images and lapidary sentences… enthralling. It’s an absolute joy to read and an early contender for every list of History Books of the Year’ Sunday Telegraph, Harry Sidebottom

‘In this magnificent book… Hadley takes us down a different way, looking through a gentler window on that road's long lost days. He reveals The Road's own intimate knowledge of the land it knew and the folk it's known, turning the tables on what we think we're reading; because The Road is not really about it, it's about us’ Mythical Britain, Michael Smith author of King Arthur's Death

‘Loving The Road, [it’s] about a Roman road but also a rumination on the past and our relationship with it. [An] excellent companion piece to his previous book about a dragon slayer’s tomb. The pair offer a whole new and very exciting model for how to do local history. Highly recommend’ Dr Kelcey Wilson-Lee author of Daughters of Chivalry

‘Ingeniously constructed…scholarly…wears its learning lightly… is engagingly written…and always a pleasure to read’ Country Life

‘The book offers a wealth of historical knowledge in a fashion which is entertaining and readable… combines scholarly depth with wonderfully lyrical depictions of the English landscape’ Literary Review

CChristopher Hadley writes at the murky, wonderful intersection of history and folklore – producing immersive history books which meld time-travel, actual foot stepping and meticulous research. His first book was Hollow Places, an account of his search across one thousand years of British history for the dragon-slayer Shonks. His second book The Road is a quest and love letter to Roman roads. Both books have received ecstatic praise from reviewers with Dominic Sandbrook choosing Hollow Places as his book of the year and Gerard de Groot writing in The Times about The Road: "…the breadth of his knowledge …the beauty of his prose. The Road deserves to be read at least twice, first to appreciate what it reveals and then to luxuriate in its effervescent voice. On nearly every page a random passage takes one’s breath away".