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Coral Reefs by Charles Sheppard Manatees and Dugongs by James Powell
Coral Reefs by Charles SheppardManatees and Dugongs by James Powell
Both the companion books Coral Reefs by Charles Sheppard and Manatees and Dugongs by James Powell are the sort of titles that could easily have been published with a hard cover and an expensive coffee-table price tag.
Instead, they are well-presented softbacks priced to be attractive to school libraries and divers buying on impulse.
Excellent photography and big glossy layout from cover to cover drew me in to both books. The credits list many photographers whose work I admire.
I found myself lapsing into a coffee-table reading habit, just browsing the photographs and reading the captions while ignoring the text. Reaching the back, I then read the appendices before making myself return to the front and start reading properly.
In places the text is a little heavy going on science, but it's worth persevering because there is lots of interesting information in there.
Coral Reefs tends to wander a bit and bog down, and I found Manatees and Dugongs a far more comfortable style to read and, of the two, enjoyed it the most.
To be fair, however, I already knew much of what Coral Reefs had to say, while Manatees and Dugongs had much information new to me. Apart from the easier-going text, its pictures have what Mark Webster describes as the 'pussycat factor'. It just makes me want to fly off to Florida, swim with the manatees, take their pictures and cuddle them - though I hope not too many people are inspired that way!
John Liddiard
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Coral Reefs by Charles Sheppard and Manatees and Dugongs by James Powell (Colin Baxter Photography, ISBN 1841071242 & 1841071269). Softback, 72pp, £9 each.
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