Read our interview with Marianne Taylor.
Dragonflight: In Search of Britain's Dragonflies and Damselflies is an account of two years spent getting to know Britain's most dazzling and enigmatic insects – the dragonflies and damselflies. The quest to find, photograph, watch and learn about dragons and damsels took the author on a tour of diverse and lovely wetlands up and down Britain, from the rugged wild peat bogs of north-west Scotland to the languid meanders of the Oxfordshire Thames. The account describes close encounters with the dragons and damsels themselves, set against backdrops of rich and vital habitats teeming with a range of other wildlife. It is also packed with background detail on dragonfly and damselfly natural history, and wetland ecology in general. The text is enlivened with line drawings and a section of colour photographs.
Marianne Taylor is a former editor at Christopher Helm and former sub-editor of (and regular writer for) Birdwatch magazine, now working freelance as a writer, editor, illustrator and photographer. An obsessive birder since childhood, her interest in other wildlife groups has grown steadily, and a new passion for dragonflies and damselflies has dominated her summers for the last three years. Her other books include RSPB British Birds of Prey; The Nature Book; Photographing Garden Wildlife; and Where to Discover Nature.