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Books: Europe

Field Guide to the Dragonflies of Britain and Europe (Dijkstra/Lewington)
The current English language bible where European Odonata are concerned. For any English speaker looking beyond the shores of the United Kingdom in Europe, if you have only one book, this should be it. Absolutely indispensable!
ISBN: 978-0-9531399-5-8 (hardback)
ISBN: 978-0-9531399-4-1 (paperback)
The Dragonflies of Europe – Revised Edition (R. R. Askew)
The seminal book of its type, first produced in the 80s (1988?) when the author spotted a gap in the marketplace, complete with painstakingly painted identification illustrations by the author himself. Again, not so much a field guide, this is a slightly historic reference publication, with much on the biology of dragonflies, that is no less valid for the passage of time.
ISBN: 0-946589-75-5 (paperback)
Dragonflies and Damselflies of Europe (Galliani/Scherini/Piglia)
A relatively new kid on the block and interestingly subtitled “A scientific approach to the identification of European Odonata without capture”. Carlo Galliani certainly excels at in-flight photographs of his subjects and photography is central to this guide and to its subtitle, with helpful arrows highlighting key features for identification (very much like my own Id-Aids). An excellent, though relatively expensive addition to the library.
ISBN: 97888903323-6-4 (paperback)
Atlas of the European Dragonflies and Damselflies (Boudot/Kalkman)
A large format Dutch publication in English; an atlas mapping obesrvations of all European Odonata. Unusually, it also includes less detailed maps of worldwide distributions, which may prove informative. A useful reference work with more up to date distribution than the Dijkstra/Lewington (above), since it is more recent (2015).
ISBN: 978-90-5011-480-6 (hardback)
Les Libellules de France, Belgique et Luxembourg (Grand/Boudot)
A wonderfully produced (by Biotope) hardback reference work in French, with excellently detailed distribution maps and flight season information – it has the sense to adjust season charts between the north and south – amongst an enormous amount more. This is definitely not a field guide – the book is too heavy and lacks identification drawings, though it does have photographs of specimens.
ISBN: 2-914817-05-3 (hardback)
Les Libellules de Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur (Papazian/Viricel/Blanchon/Kabouche)
Another wonderfully produced (by Biotope) large format hardback reference work in French, limiting itself in detail to the PACA [Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur] region of France. It is essentially an atlas publication, mapping observations to 10km x 10km squares.
ISBN: 978-2-36662-185-3 (hardback)