In a journey to appreciate how much wood matters - and has done since prehistory - Roland Ennos takes the reader chronologically through four key phases: the impact of wooded habits on the lives of primates; human emergence and the discoveries of fire and woodwork; wood's role in an environment both pre- and post-industrialisation; and lastly, the possible future of wood in an increasingly technologized world.

In an original and essential investigation, The Wood Age challenges the traditional model of historical development - stone, bronze, iron - and instead guide readers through a revealing and innovative wooded history of the world.