If you could only afford one book on the New Zealand Bush this would be it. There are many specialist books that deal with a particular aspect of the bush. Salmon's books come easily to mind. This text treats the bush as a community with sections on all of the living components. The layout makes it very easy to locate an area of interest. Each section is colour coded on the margin of the page. Trees and shrubs are grey, the forest floor is green for example and this feature makes it very easy reference. A book of just 300 pages cannot be totally exhaustive. You will get a good introduction to just about anything you might find in the bush. There are so many beetles and insects generally that the accounts tend to hit the highspots only. Even so, all the major areas of interest are there, from fungi to frogs, birds to beetles! Green plants, whether they be trees, shrubs or ferns are covered in great depth. The text is concise and spot on. The photographs are absolutely stunning and they are present in huge abundance.
The book itself is well made. It is a fairly flexible softback with a reasonably protective cover that should repel moisture. It is also of a size that is suitable to slip in your pocket the next time you go bush. The copy shown is a library copy and has had some use and the protective film is damaged at the corners. An extra layer of protection would be advisable for a personal copy that is sure to get a lot of use.
Nature Guide to the New Zealand Forest by John Dawson and Rob Lucas, printed by Godwit in 2000. ISBN 1 86962 055 0
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