I bought this book thinking it would be an encyclopaedia with pictures of a good number of presently available bulbs featured - a bit like the wonderful books by Roger Phillips. And was initially disappointed. The book is stuffed full of photos, but not as many as I had anticipated.
However where this book comes into its own is with the extent of its very detailed information. I sat down with this book for half an hour with a cup of coffee and learned more in those thirty minutes about bulbs than in all my years gardening, and that was just with skimming through. Anyone who grows bulbs will learn an enormous amount from Anna Pavord's deep and detailed subject knowledge. It covers everything from history to cultivation, propagation, storage, and most importantly positioning - which I had never realised was so important. This book will pay for itself quite quickly with the money it saves me when buying and growing bulbs.