Dragonflies: Magnificent Creatures of Water, Air, and Land Hardcover – Illustrated, 28 May 2015

Fantastic images for someone that loved dragonflies and had not been able to find a good book on them, lovely fascinating animals.

Lovely book and very well delivered. Recommend to anyone who likes photography.

Great book

Disclosure: dragonflies are now and have always been my favorite insects. I remember dragonflies landing on my arms or hands or legs, lowering their wings and sharing the warmth of my skin on a cool August afternoon. I remember them allowing me to get right in their faces with a macro lens and letting me snap a photo of their gigantic, panoramic eyes. Or coming down over them to get a close-up of their stained glass wings. I adore watching them hover and suddenly backflip and snatch a fly and come back to position to eat it in the air right in front of me. Any book that documents their lifecycle with spectacular close-ups will win favor with me.Unlike cuddly mammals, insect babies are not cute. But it is most fascinating to learn how the dragonfly morphs into its adult state all in the course of one night, (relatively) safe from birds and other predators in the dark. Van Dokkum even has underwater shots of dragonfly nymphs, wingless, totally unrecognizable, nowhere near the masters of the sky they will become, if they survive defenseless under water.This is a coffee table book, not meant to cover all 450 types of dragonfly in the USA, let alone the thousands worldwide. But it is a colorful tribute to a versatile, ancient, and most beneficial component of our existence.David Wineberg

I am immediately a touch suspicious of any book in a landscape format - it says 'I'm not really to be read, just to be flicked through' - it's a coffee table format at best. Sometimes I'm pleasantly surprised by the content, where far more is delivered that the format suggests - but here, I'm afraid the result is pretty, but only scratches the surface of what really should be inside.Dragonflies are fascinating creatures and what Pieter van Dokkum - rather oddly an astronomy professor - does well is to capture their nymphs and mature forms in close up in every possible activity from metamorphosis to catching prey. However it's hard to escape that this is essentially a picture book without even the kind of text support you might get in something like a Dorling Kindersley book.In the past I've been pleasantly surprised by what I thought was going to be little more than a set of good illustrations with a book like The Buzz about Bees, because that contained lots of fascinating material about bees and their lives, and the nature of super organisms. Yes, I enjoyed the closeup pictures - but I learned a huge amount too. From the small amount I do know about dragonflies, they too are a topic that should have been rich in fascinating factoids and engrossing stories. But sadly Dragonflies does not deliver in this way.Unless you are a dragonfly groupie, I think this is the kind of book you might want to borrow from a library and flick through, but not to buy to read from end to end. Perhaps it would even work as a loo book. But it could have been so much more.

This modestly-size book is a photographic tribute to the dragonfly. There are some strange critical reviews at this site, which I was wary of when I purchased. But it's modestly priced and turns out to be a bargain. Have no concern -- the photography is excellent -- and realistic. As a modestly accomplished amateur wildlife photographer myself, I know how hard these photos were won. And photos dominate the book. There is a dragonfly photo on almost every page! It is a treat for any enthusiast like me that has tried to capture the "beauty and mystery of dragonflies in photographs", per the opening line in the book. It is a joy.

Created by a true dragonfly lover, he has taken the pictures so you dont need to get up early and go wading in a mosquito-infested swamp to see dragonfly nymphs hatching. Just sip some coffee and turn to the right page in this book. If you are fascinated by these creatures (and you should be), then you want this book. My suggestion? Give it as a gift and leaf through it a few times before wrapping it up. Sorry Amazon if you think that idea sucks but you asked me for a review.

This book has been on my list of must purchase for quite some time. I am so glad that I purchased this book. As a dragonfly lover I find the photos are amazing. As an amateur photographer I am aware of how difficult it is to capture a dragonfly in flight. Some of the examples I had never scene. Truly enjoying this book.

Informative hoped for more pictures

Yes Ilove this book too. I have always been attracted to dragonflies and did not know where the story that my grandmother had told me many years ago about them being snake doctors had come from till I read some of the information in these different books. Thank You