This book was eagerly awaited by legions of dragonfly watchers, and Dragonflies Through Binoculars by Sid Dunkle is an good addition to the tools we need to help us identify the many dragonflies in North America. HOWEVER, the PUBLISHER has done many a reader a disservice by putting the idea into people's heads that with this book, a person can ID a dragonfly with binoculars. Even the more advanced Odonatist would have a hard time using the photos in the book to ID specimens in the field. For many species, you have to look at male genitalia, and of course, they are not shown close-up in the book. Furthermore, the photos are too small to show the pertinent features discussed in the text.
Pluses: Good synopsis of natural history, range maps
Minuses: photos too small, no keys, no close-up details of pertinent features, some species not shown.
Overall, even with its faults, this IS a useful book and if you are interested at all in dragonflies, go ahead and buy it.

Having Dunkle as a proffesor, I know that his book is as wonderful as his teaching. This book is a must for nature lovers, and even biology lovers. No one, except Dr. Dunkle, can know all the species of dragonflies that lie in Texas and its surroundings. If you are going to get a book, get one you can actually use your whole life. And once you read his book, i recommend you take his class also. You will learn many wonderful things from a very respectable and knowledgable teacher.

I never thought dragonflies were cool or anything neat...until now! and it's all because of this new book DRAGONFLIES through BINOCULARS. My mom, the nature lover in the family, always wants us to look at this insect doing this or that one dipping in the pond. This new book Dragonflies through Binoculars makes everything so much clearer. It's neat to see what these fast moving creatures look like. If I can tear the book away from my mom, I'll sneak out and try the dragonfly watching sport! It would make a great gift for anybody interested in insects!