by David Newland, Robert Still, David Tomlinson and Andy Swash

From the publisher: A comprehensive photographic field guide to the butterflies of Britain and Ireland. This completely revised second edition covers in detail the identification of all 59 butterfly species that currently breed, as well as the four former breeders, nine rare migrants and one species with unknown status. The innovative easy-to-use format aims to help the butterfly-watcher - beginner or expert - to identify any species they encounter.

A Review by Peter Eeles - 17th October 2010

Given that this is the revised second edition of this best-selling photographic field guide, I thought I might have to go into detail regarding what's changed. However, since I didn't review the first edition, perhaps I can kill two birds with one stone by simply reviewing the latest edition!

Let's start with a brief summary for those who have never seen the first edition. This book is a comprehensive field guide with each species spread handily across two pages. The text is accompanied by an equally-comprehensive set of photos showing the adult butterflies, together with any subspecies and forms, as well as useful identification tips for those species that are difficult to tell apart. Along with a description of each of the stages, each species is shown with conservation status (Biodiversity Action Plan and Red Data Book listing, for example), wingspan, distribution map, phenogram and tips on where to look. Take a look at the images below and see for yourself.

For those that do own the first edition, each species description has been brought bang up to date and several species that failed to get a mention in the first edition (specifically, extinct species and rare migrants) are now included. In fact, the book has quite a lot of new material both before and after the species descriptions, providing good value for money!

Another change in the second edition is that the digital imaging originally in place for the first edition, where all stages were shown on a single page, has been replaced with a "cleaner" look and feel showing separate photos of the adults, with immature stages summarised at the end of the book.

In summary, this continues to be my favourite photographic guide for British butterflies and, as such, is highly recommended.

How to Order

Copies of the book can be ordered from Princeton University Press.