Boring, meaningless and cheap

A review of "The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Orchids" by Alec Pridgeon.

This isn't really an encyclopaedia. Rather, it's a meaningless coffee table book. True, 1100 orchid species are illustrated and identified, but so what? The presentations are extremely short, so short that Wikipedia would consider them stubs, and the photos are plain boring. Usually, we only get a close up of one particular flower! Nor are common names included, not even of species which have established English names (such as the Lady's Slipper orchid). If you own a barbershop or run a health clinic, this book may be good for the waiting room, but to actually *read* it is pointless. Instead, try to find books about a specific geographical region, or a specific group of orchids. "The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Orchids" will just annoy you and make you $30 poorer.