THE LOST CARVING 

A Journey to the Heart of Making - David Esterly

Usually when I read non-fiction I read a novel in between sections - I seem to need a break from it. With this book I just had to keep turning the pages. David Esterly took on a contract in the 1980s to replace a fantastically detailed 17th century Grinling Gibbons limewood carving destroyed by a fire in Hampton Court Palace. You would think that a book about woodcarving would be boring to someone who knows nothing about it - but along with talk about chisels and wood Esterly shares what he learned over the years about the passion for creating and the commitment to be true to the past. A beautifully written book by a man who balances the intellectual and the physical by working always from his heart.