DHBlog021 · A book review by Robert Sharp
I feel like one of those Amazon reviewers who, excited at receiving their latest gadget, have started the review before they have even got it out of the box. Well, here it is in the box:
And its an impressive box! Take care when the driver hands it over because it is very heavy. A whopping 8kg of book! Thinking of Amazon, opening the box does not reveal a lot of nothing. It is carefully packaged:
And on to the books themselves:
Its a lot of book and I put Stace alongside to give some idea of just how much. Now for the downsides. Each book is over 4kg and getting them out of their slip box requires you pull both out far enough to get your fingers between the two. That is not easy. The binding is fine, but the spines are flat so their is no support when the book is standing. In the old days, a book this big would have had a rounded spine so that the boards supported the spine when on the shelf. With no support, it means the book block falls forward and pulls on the joint with the boards, which is simply glued to the inside of the boards. It may be annoying but I would keep the books in the slip box on the shelf to keep them upright and avoid untimely damage. Perhaps it would have been better to publish them as three volumes rather than two?
The contents are great, but they are not the subject of this review. What is less than perfect is having one index only in volume two. The Mosses of Europe: A Photographic Flora has the index repeated in all three volumes, which is a nice touch. It also comes with a separate sheet with a genus index printed on it. I might have to make my own version of that.
Plant names are frequently changing at the moment, and again the Mosses of Europe provides the most recent name alongside the current name and has a nifty approach in the index where not only are synonyms listed but also "specific name, genus name" which can be handy if you can't recall the genus. I have had that happen to me a few times! It is also useful in that book because European names are sometimes different from those used in the UK. Unfortunately, the Plant Atlas has few of these features, which is a shame. The index does cater for the most recent names changes but it does not go back very far. I guess you would probably have Stace on hand if needed. Also, while I am groaning on about the index, I personally like scientific names and English names to be separated. Stace doesn't do it, but he does highlight scientific names which makes it a lot easier to scan.
Perhaps the most important question is why I bought it, given the contents can be accessed online for free? Well, first, I like books and although I am more than happy using online resources, it can be useful to have hardcopies to hand. Also, books can offer a certain serendipity that online resources can't - you can stumble across interesting things while flicking through the pages. You can also make very quick comparisons, especially if the species you are looking at are on the same page. I certainly don't regret making the investment, but I am concerned about how well these beautiful books will age with use. If you can afford it, and are fit enough, I would recommend buying the Plant Atlas, but I am guessing that most people who would buy it, already have.