Bear in mind that it is unrealistic to expect ANY volume to cover all species of insects, simply because there are far too many - literally hundreds of thousands in fact! For example, there are well over 3,000 moths alone in the UK, so people wanting to specialise in a particular insect order will need a specialised identification guide.

The 'Western Europe' book by the same author (out of print at the time of writing this) is also good and possibly slightly better for identifying species in the field, according to some. However, with that book, when you think you've got the exact species the text often says 'one of a dozen similar species'.


A great beginners book   July 7, 2004
 19 out of 21 found this review helpful

If you live in the south of France I think that buying a book titled "Field Guide to the Insects of Britain and Northern Europe" isn't really reason enough to criticise the book. It's the fault of the purchaser.

Admittedly the butterfly section is a bit wanting, but again, if you are after a book on butterflies then buy a specialist book not a general guide. I think this book is wonderful and I carry it out on walks a lot as the colour plates a very good for indentification purposes. As I say in the title it is a great beginners book.


lack of detail coverage   May 31, 2003
 19 out of 47 found this review helpful

Unfortunately I seem to liveSouth of the area covered by this book, which is not suitable for anyone living in Southern France.Apart from this, the author tries to cover too many types of insect, and as a result covers none fully.His butterfly section is very poor. In addition,there are far too few colour photos,which are in most cases far from the text references.
I suggest as a better choice specific coverage volumes e.g. Butterflies of Europe, by Tolman and Lewington


Not the complete guide it claims   January 11, 2001
 50 out of 62 found this review helpful

As a novice I needed more illustrations.It did not offer me the help I needed.Quite abysmal.A far better book is by the same author"Insects of Britain and Western Europe" It is a pocket guide by the same publisher and the same price


Excellent illustrations make this a first class field guide   July 6, 2000
 26 out of 28 found this review helpful

If you want a quick reference guide to just about any insect you're likely to encounter in Northern Europe, then this is the one. Unlike some other field guides (and we've tried a few) the highly detailed illustrations in this book enable you identify insects very quickly.