About the only fault that I can find with this book is the lack of illustrations. I assume illustrated editions exist, but this isn't one of them, so I had to make do with the meager projections of my brain. 120 entries describing imaginary beasts from all around the world and from different times and even a few sprung straight from the fertile minds of CS Lewis and Franz Kafka. Written with dry wit and effortless erudition, each entry is a polished gem, each being a wonder of shape and marvel of history and odd curate's egg of the culture that produced it. A book to be kept handy for dipping into, I think.