A lovely gift for a dog lover, this coffee-table style book features many dog breeds, including some of the more modern cross-breeds like labradoodles and cockerpoos. Each breed has a few paragraphs about its history and main characteristics, and some basic statistics like size. It also includes a description of the temperament and key information that might be relevant to a prospective owner, like if it needs a lot of or less exercise, or if it gets on well with children. There are also smaller facts dotted around the large colour pictures which are an important feature of the book. Some of the more popular breeds like Labradors have a longer entry than others in terms of pictures and associated comments. There is also a full index.

As with all books of this kind, it can't match the internet for volume, accessibility and practicality of information. If you wanted to do serious research about which dog to buy, that's where you'd turn. What it gives instead is a pleasurable diversion to enjoy looking at pictures and reading a little bit about different dogs that you might not have known much about. It's the same as a travel coffee-table book - you look through for pleasure, inspiration and 'armchair' travel, rather than to do detailed trip planning. Think of this in the same way, but for dogs. It would be a nice gift for a young person who enjoys dogs - although might only increase yearning for a real pet!

This is a great guide to lots of dog breeds. There are lots of photos of each dog breed and thorough information. It covers a lot of breeds I’d never heard of, though it doesn’t cover all of the modern mixed designer breeds (a lot of doodle types are covered though). I appreciated that it mentioned negatives like a lifetime of health problems for bulldogs or that a breed needs a lot of exercise or is prone to digging or barking. I would have liked even more of that for people who really want to pick the best dog for their family or understand the breeds that make up their dog. It’s a great guide.

I read a temporary digital loan of this book for review.