The Wisconsin Historical Society (WHS) Press is releasing a new book that is part homage, part social history and part field guide to one of the most well known pieces of power equipment. Chainsaw Love: Field Notes on the World’s Most Dynamic Power Tool is written by former line-clearance tree faller James Card.

In the book, Card considers the many ways the chain saw has affected people’s lives and our culture since it first arrived on the market in the 1940s. He describes the personal freedom that comes from harvesting your own trees for firewood and introduces readers to lumberjack competitors, hot-saw builders, and the sculpture carvers who take sawing to new heights.

Chainsaw Love asserts the key role chain saws play in clearing the right-of-way for powerlines to keep the electrical grid humming; in forestry and conservation efforts to maintain desirable ecosystems; and in the sciences, where ecologists and astronomers use chain saws to age trees for scientific research. And Card considers the chain saw’s place in pop culture, from movies to rock songs to presidential photo ops.

Card also shares the lore and terminology of forests and wood cutting— widow makers and windthrows, witness trees and barber chairs, pumpkin pine, devil’s forks, cat faces, and schoolmarms—and offers insights into chain saw variations and parts, guidelines for saw care and maintenance, safety recommendations, and other hard-won tips and tricks.

The book can be purchased directly from WHS Press, visit shop.wisconsinhistory.org.