Rob Read

Collins Life-Size Birds is a photographic celebration of Britain and northern Europe's richly varied birdlife. The photographs are gloriously detailed, appealing to both beginners and experienced birdwatchers. For decades, bird photography has been used to capture and create images of these photogenic subjects. Recent advances in technology mean that digital imaging has come of age and, as a result, contemporary photographs of birds can reveal as much detail as can be seen with the naked eye and the bird in the hand. This has allowed the creation of a book that depicts birds in intricate detail at life size, as well as larger than life in the case of many smaller species. The book is unique because for every species entry at least one image shows the bird in question, or the head and bill in the case of large species, depicted life size. The photographs used throughout the book have been chosen carefully to show not only important identification features but also to depict a bird's typical posture, be that perched, standing, swimming or in flight. As many plumage variations as possible have been included. Annotations highlight key identification features that are discussed in the text. For each species the main text contains descriptions of plumage and structural features that are useful for identification, plus further information about habits and behaviour. In addition, a 'fact file' section covers key details for each species: Common name; Scientific name; Length (an average, measured from bill tip to the end of the tail; Wingspan (an average, measured from wingtip to wingtip); Habitat (or habitats, if these differ seasonally); Food; Status; and Voice.

Collins Life-Size Birds is a photographic celebration of Britain and northern Europeâ??s richly varied birdlife. The photographs are gloriously detailed, appealing to both beginners and experienced birdwatchers.

A comprehensive and fully illustrated guide, this book is the definitive photographic reference guide for anyone interested in butterflies and moths found in Britain and Ireland. Every species that occurs regularly in Britain and Ireland is included, along with a section dealing with the ‘rarest of the rare’ – extinct species or very rare immigrants. There follows the main section of the book, which covers our larger moths; every species that occurs regularly in Britain and Ireland is mentioned.

In September 2003 Rob Read began to edit, transform, and "treat" his incoming junk e-mail or "spam" into poems which were then sent out again to a list of friends he thought might appreciate them. In fact, the present publisher discovered the first of them in his junkmail box, where his email program had conveniently filed them. Initially sent away with no archival copies saved, this collection represents Read's revisiting of these (almost) daily poems, which were luckily saved by a recipient who felt they were important enough to archive. Cut down and heavily edited to the most fascinating "spams," O Spam, Poams showcases the daring approaches Read takes while creating relics from junk, pulp from dross, and narrative gleams from abstractions (and sometimes vice versa). The effects produced range from hilarious to pensive, anecdotal to ahh-inspiring.