Books : The Millennium Atlas of Butterflies in Britain and Ireland

Rating: - Superb, but understand what it's not
This is a major reference work. Whatever they say it's not a light-weight book designed to be pretty or field portable. M.G. Pennington's review is excellent, just beware the newcommer that this is 100% NOT the book you use outside when trying to identify the fluttering thing you are looking at. Get another book for that (I vote Tom Tolman's work for that). This is for understanding what that fluttering thing you have already identified was all about, or where you might hope to meet a particular type of butterfly. Invaluable. There has also been at least one update published on the butterfly conservation website, though I think that's since become a book in its own right. If you have any possible interest in butterflies, get a decent field guide and get this book. You'll unlikely ever need anything else on the subject unless you gain a really deep interest.

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Rating: - Disappointed
I was looking forward to receiving this book for my Birthday. When I took my first tentative look, the first thing to hit me was that the illustrations of the Butterflies were taken of the underside of the insects. My experiences of Butterfly books during my early years as an ardent Butterfly enthusiast, were that they included superbly illustrations with the top side of the insects. But I must agree with the other reviews, it has been well researched, with superb text. The distribution maps are excellent. I wish to congratulate the Authors on thier Excellent work but they could improve on the insect illustrations in the next edition. Being a keen Photographer of Butterflies I realise how difficult it can be to catch them with their wings open. John

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Rating: - A Must Buy for Butterfly Enthusiasts
I am only 21 and therefore much less well read in the field of natural history books than many, but I must say that this is the best wildlife book I have ever had the pleasure to read. This is the sort of book you can keep dipping into all the time and is comprehensive in its coverage of the British species of butterflies. The dot maps are superb compared to the low resolution, inaccurate distribution maps found in most butterfly field guides and give an excellent indication as to where the butterflies are actually found. A fascinating read.

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Rating: - Filled with relavent up to date information
This book has long been awaited, a lot of hard work has come to fruition, it is packed with up to date relavent information, for the Butterfly enthusiast. It is a must if you want to spot that rare species, Thanks to the editors and the dedicated team who were involved in compiling this marvel..

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Rating: - The best butterfly book ever
This book presents the results of the five year Butterflies for the New Millennium project organised by Butterfly Conservation, the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology and the Dublin Field Naturalists' Club in 1995-99. However, it is much more than just an Atlas - as well as maps showing distribution and changes of distribution, there is information on flight periods, abundance, population level, ecology and conservation - all presented in a clear, attractive and accurate style. There is also a wealth of background information, putting the survey in context and explaining its methodology, as well as discussing the results and their implications. While 15 species have shown evidence of recent range expansion, some quite dramatic, more worrying is the fact that no less than 29 species (half the British total) have shown signs of range loss in the last two decades. Most of these species are habitat specialists, something that makes their conservation more difficult. However, this book goes a long way towards providing the baseline information and, hopefully, raising the public awareness which are both necessary to start improving the current situation. Overall, organisers, authors, publishers and everyone else involved in the publication of this book deserve every credit. The publishers claim this is a book for everyone with an interest in butterflies, 'from amateur to naturalists to professional conservationist and policy-makers' and they are right. If you are interested in butterflies in any way you must have this book. It is the best book on British butterflies ever published. If it inspires people to take up an interest in butterflies and encourages conservationists and planners to carry out he conservation measures suggested, it could also be the most important.