Rainbow Dust: Three Centuries of Delight in British Butterflies - Hardcover

"A scholarly and captivating excursion into the history of natural history, further enlivened by vivid portraits of some of the butterfly enthusiasts of the past" (Michael McCarthy Independent)

"Never again will this reader, at least, take a butterfly for granted... Beautifully written and thoroughly researched, Rainbow Dust is a truly marvellous book" (Sophia Waugh, 5 stars Telegraph)

"In Peter Marren Britain’s butterflies have found their champion. Is Rainbow Dust worth a flutter? Oh, absolutely" (John Lewis-Stempel The Times)

"[A] superbly distilled statement on our national obsession with butterflies" (Mark Cocker Spectator)

"Whether you know a lot or a little about butterflies, this is an essential read" (Peter Forbes Independant)

Much more than just another field guide or a natural history of butterflies Rainbow Dust explores the ways in which butterflies delight and inspire us all, naturalists and non-naturalists alike. Beginning with the author's own experience of hunting and rearing butterflies as a boy, Peter Marren considers the special place of the butterfly in art, literature, advertising and science, and, latterly, our attempts to conserve them.

Rainbow Dust takes in the controversy over collecting, the women who studied them and the curious details that lead to butterflies being feared as well as loved. This is a celebration of butterflies; one shot through with a sense of wonder but also of sorrow at what we are losing.