--- product_id: 5027838 title: "A Splintered History of Wood: Belt-Sander Races, Blind Woodworkers, and Baseball Bats – A Passionate Personal Exploration of Nature's Gift" price: "¥3249" currency: JPY in_stock: true reviews_count: 10 url: https://www.desertcart.jp/products/5027838-a-splintered-history-of-wood-belt-sander-races-blind-woodworkers store_origin: JP region: Japan --- # A Splintered History of Wood: Belt-Sander Races, Blind Woodworkers, and Baseball Bats – A Passionate Personal Exploration of Nature's Gift **Price:** ¥3249 **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** A Splintered History of Wood: Belt-Sander Races, Blind Woodworkers, and Baseball Bats – A Passionate Personal Exploration of Nature's Gift - **How much does it cost?** ¥3249 with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.jp](https://www.desertcart.jp/products/5027838-a-splintered-history-of-wood-belt-sander-races-blind-woodworkers) ## Best For - Customers looking for quality international products ## Why This Product - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description A Splintered History of Wood is a passionate and personal exploration of nature’s greatest gift: wood. In the successful tradition of books such as Salt and Cod , writer and carpenter Spike Carlsen explores the history, versatility, and special appeal of something we use everyday—but take for granted—in this comprehensive and dynamic history of wood’s global impact and its personal significance to people in all walks of life. Review: This is the best book on the history of wood, its uses in years past as well as today. Loved it. - I have Spikes book on tips for woodworking and it is very well done. It referenced this book, but in this book Spike put in his whole heart and soul. He takes you places and describes things so well you would think you were right there with him. His descriptions of the many aspects of wood and woodworking are just super! He covers log cutting contests - to the building or musical instruments - to forensic analysis in criminal cases. I have never been board reading any chapter in this book. Spike has a talent that keeps the reader engaged and interested. It's not just a historical book about wood. It covers the lives of some of the most famous people we all know and many we don’t. Overall it's about the things that a woodworker would find most interesting that’s not about the fundamentals of woodworking. It’s more about the many aspects of wood, people and processes. It’s how we got from woodworking thousands of years ago to where we are today. There are many of those processes that are still in use today. The tools may have gotten better, but some of the true craftsmen still do it the way it was done thousands of years ago. This is a great book and I truly enjoyed reading it. The copy I purchased came from a library in Florida. It was almost new with nice clean pages and the only marking was from the library. There is the old saying “don’t judge a book by its cover”. I’m glad the people in the library district in Florida where this copy came from didn’t ever open it. To me it is a valued treasure I keep in my glass bookcase which is reserved for the special books. Review: Book of Wonders - I don't know what the negative reviewers have in mind, except that they seem to be professional wood people who prefer an academic wood volume. For me, a hobby woodworker (boat, furniture) this book is a book of wonders. Not only do we get the scope of woodwork through history and now, but we also get the fascinating details of varieties of wood, their properties and values, and the strange and wide-ranging uses to which they have been put. However, I am deducting one star because of the author's frequent cutsy-wootsy writing style that he must think is funny, but really only irritates. Because of this penchant for verbal acrobatics I would have put the book down early on, but the subject matter is so interesting I just held my nose and ploughed through it. ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | Best Sellers Rank | #305,773 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #26 in Furniture & Carpentry Crafts #54 in Home Furniture #89 in Tree Gardening | | Customer Reviews | 4.5 out of 5 stars 191 Reviews | ## Images ![A Splintered History of Wood: Belt-Sander Races, Blind Woodworkers, and Baseball Bats – A Passionate Personal Exploration of Nature's Gift - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61MA+crNskL.jpg) ## Available Options This product comes in different **Media Format** options. ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ This is the best book on the history of wood, its uses in years past as well as today. Loved it. *by K***R on December 17, 2017* I have Spikes book on tips for woodworking and it is very well done. It referenced this book, but in this book Spike put in his whole heart and soul. He takes you places and describes things so well you would think you were right there with him. His descriptions of the many aspects of wood and woodworking are just super! He covers log cutting contests - to the building or musical instruments - to forensic analysis in criminal cases. I have never been board reading any chapter in this book. Spike has a talent that keeps the reader engaged and interested. It's not just a historical book about wood. It covers the lives of some of the most famous people we all know and many we don’t. Overall it's about the things that a woodworker would find most interesting that’s not about the fundamentals of woodworking. It’s more about the many aspects of wood, people and processes. It’s how we got from woodworking thousands of years ago to where we are today. There are many of those processes that are still in use today. The tools may have gotten better, but some of the true craftsmen still do it the way it was done thousands of years ago. This is a great book and I truly enjoyed reading it. The copy I purchased came from a library in Florida. It was almost new with nice clean pages and the only marking was from the library. There is the old saying “don’t judge a book by its cover”. I’m glad the people in the library district in Florida where this copy came from didn’t ever open it. To me it is a valued treasure I keep in my glass bookcase which is reserved for the special books. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Book of Wonders *by M***V on February 10, 2014* I don't know what the negative reviewers have in mind, except that they seem to be professional wood people who prefer an academic wood volume. For me, a hobby woodworker (boat, furniture) this book is a book of wonders. Not only do we get the scope of woodwork through history and now, but we also get the fascinating details of varieties of wood, their properties and values, and the strange and wide-ranging uses to which they have been put. However, I am deducting one star because of the author's frequent cutsy-wootsy writing style that he must think is funny, but really only irritates. Because of this penchant for verbal acrobatics I would have put the book down early on, but the subject matter is so interesting I just held my nose and ploughed through it. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ LOADS of fun, and really you don't need to be a woodworker to appreciate it *by E***R on April 25, 2009* This book has been a big hit at the Schindler bitranch, and we've already given a copy as a gift. If you are (or know) someone who enjoys woodworking in any form, this is a no-brainer. Save the time spent reading this review and just click on the Order This button now. However, don't imagine that this book is interesting only if you have a power tool in your garage. Because this is darned great writing, wonderful "Wow I didn't know how they made that!" material, and -- well, heck, it's just FUN READING. This falls into the same entertaining category of books that explore one item in depth (such as Kurlansky's Salt: A World History or Mark Pendergrast's Uncommon Grounds on coffee). Unlike a lot of nonfiction, which is interesting in a plodding sort of way, you could easily bring along this book on an airplane flight. The book is in several sections: extraordinary woods; the wacky world of woodcrafters; the tools that work the wood; wood in music; in sports; in shelter; in day-to-day life; wood, weapons, and war; wood by land, air, and sea; in unusual uses and peculiar places. Each chapter has several vignettes. If you aren't excited by one essay, the next one will probably grab you (though I didn't have any ho-hum responses until near the end, and I think I was simply sleepy by then). So you might be interested in the quest for the most expensive board-foot, or maybe you'll be fascinated with Carlsen's interview with president Jimmy Carter (an avid woodworker), or you'll get excited to learn about Stradivarius violins. Perhaps it'll be baseball bats that capture your interest, or ten great moments in catapult history. For me, the most fun was the section on creating a xylarium -- a collection of wood samples (and isn't that one heck of a great Scrabble word?); there's even an International Wood Collector's Society. Because this book isn't only about wood -- it's about what we humans do with it. And Spike Carlsen infuses each essay with a celebration of how inventive we all are. I completely enjoyed this book. I think you will, too. --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.jp/products/5027838-a-splintered-history-of-wood-belt-sander-races-blind-woodworkers](https://www.desertcart.jp/products/5027838-a-splintered-history-of-wood-belt-sander-races-blind-woodworkers) --- *Product available on Desertcart Japan* *Store origin: JP* *Last updated: 2026-10-18*