Book Review: Wild Flowers of Britain and Northern Europe (New Generation Guide)

This is quite probably one of the best books on plants that I have ever read!

Quite a claim to make, isn't it? Well hopefully this review will validate my claim. The book was published in 1987 by Collins in their New Generation Guide series, making it quite old - especially considering that it presents botanical information, a field of research that is continually being updated. Marketed as 'Two books in one', it is sectioned into three parts. Beginning with a short section on the evolution of flowering plants, before moving on to a directory of over 1400 wild flowers in north-west Europe before closing with a section on the natural history of wild flowers.

It is written by Alastair Fitter, famed for his part in the Collins Pocket Guide Wild Flowers of Britain and Northern Europe, with Richard Fitter and Marjorie Blame. That pocket guide is one of the very few that was recommended continually when I was looking for a keyed identification guide. I was lucky enough to be given a copy by the same person that lent me this New Generation Guide.

The first part of the book, I found difficult to read for some reason - although it is worth reading.The second part, the directory, is sectioned into families and their is a key explaining the families before the directory begins. Each entry has a small, but well done, illustration, followed by a short description. The directory is closed with an appendix of scarce species in Britain, which no illustrations.

The third part is what made the book for me. It covers a massive amount of information, held within 140 pages. Yet, it is perfectly readable and I found myself reading larger and larger chunks as the book progressed! It's organised into subjects, for example, seeds. Which is then separated into sub-sections that are each 2 pages long, an exampling being seed dispersal by animals: external transport. There are many wonderful illustrations and the author provides many examples of plants for every topic and adaptation that is discussed in the book.

The author is also very clear when there is no (when the book was published) answer to the questions he raises. Disappointingly, there are no newer editions of this book. The book was published in a size format that was for taking out in the field, perhaps this proved unsuccessful - which is understandable for anyone who has the Collins Pocket Guide previously mentioned. This book is just too general and lacks much of the detail required for and ID guide. The last section, however is wonderful and it's broad, but detailed sweep of the natural history of plants. I will certainly be on the look out for any book that offers an updated view of the topics discussed here.

The book definitely works well in as an introductory text on wild flowers and I hope you can see why I enjoyed it so much.

Now for my scores on the review matrix:

Own or Loan:         Loan
Read Again:           Yes
Recommend:          Yes
Overall out of Five: 4

Do you perhaps know of a book that does offer an updated view of the natural history of plants? If so, let me know in the comments!