I love this book: in fact I own two copies of the first edition. Brian has produced the most widely accepted current classification of the genus Iris, and this book is a masterpiece of concise and eloquent prose describing every species in cultivation, with pictures of most of them. Brian brings the vast resources of the Royal Botanic Gardens to bear: as a Scientific Officer at the their herbarium, he curated the irises and with Tony Hall's enormous skill in the Gardens, he grew all the most challenging junos and Oncocyclus (as well as many other intransigent sections). The result is definitive and beautiful and an essential part of any iris lovers library. If you are only interested in Tall Bearded hybrids (or as Jim Waddick calls them: "Hankies on a stick") this book is not for you. Stick to Schreiner's catalog. But for students and lovers of the whole genus iris this is quite simply put the Bible. I wish Brian would hurry up and write a new Testament!