Spiders of the World

My thanks to Quarto Publishing Group - Ivy Press for a temporary digital edition via NetGalley of ‘Spiders of the World - A Natural History’ edited by Norman Platnick in exchange for an honest review.

Disclaimer: I am arachnophobic though recently have been trying to understand more about spiders in order to address my clearly irrational fear of them. As a result I requested this informative book to read and review.

Platnick is the editor and main contributor to this volume. He was a highly acclaimed arachnologist and recognised as a world leader in spider taxonomy, the science of describing, naming, and classifying spiders. Most of his publications to date have been scientific monographs.

This is a very detailed work that while written for a general audience provides a great deal of scientific information on spiders from all over the world. Following the Introduction, covering the natural history of spiders, is a catalogue providing 117 in-depth profiles spanning the taxonomic spider families.

Each profile is accompanied by photographs and small maps that indicate where each spider is found in the world, their behaviours, and other details. I found it fascinating to see how some spider species have a wide distribution, while others are confined to small areas of the planet. It concludes with a glossary, suggestions for further reading, and an index.

I will admit that some of the photos did trigger fear responses especially some of the extreme closeups of spider faces, while others were quite cute.

There is no doubt that this is a brilliant guide to all things arachnid. I learned some fascinating things about spiders and it definitely increased my understanding of their roles in nature. Rather than feel fear, I marvelled at their complexity. A very important step in tackling my arachnophobia!

I would expect this attractive hardback would be of interest to anyone interested in spider taxonomy. It’s likely also to find a place in the natural history section of both school and public libraries.

We lived this book. My kids are absolutely enthralled by it. My son went to bed with the ereader dying to learn more about these creatures. The detail in this book is top class. The photographs are superb and the knowledge that we will add to our collections once it’s all soaked in is mind blowing. We, but particularly my two sons, highly recommend this read!!!