Rating: 
Summary: Unrealized potential
Review: I highly recommend The Atlas of Dog Breeds of the World for anyone interested in discovering the wealth of the canine world. It does present more breeds than any recently published book. I have owned the first and fifth editions and there were indeed many revised and updated chapters. However,this book has by no means exhausted its subject, the quality of photos was not always exclellent, and sometimes poor. A number of breeds were poorly researched with drawings instead of photos,and outdated information, as was the case with the Greek Shepherd dog and Hellenikos Ichnilatis of my native Greece. With a litte effort beautiful photos of both breeds could have been obtained. Perhaps other breeds were treated in a similar fashion. There is a huge number of breeds left out from East and Western Europe,Japan, Taipei, China, Tibet, the former Soviet Union,Africa,Central and South America and last but not least India. The primitive dog group of the tropics is grossly underrepresented. In the case of India, there are in fact recent high quality photos of Indian breeds, that almost no book has so far bothered to present to the world. Listing only accompanied by outdated, unresearched text does little justice to living breathing dog breeds. Many of the ignored breeds are localised but well fixed and with breed clubs protecing them. I hope that future revised editions will deal with these ignored breeds that most people will never see in the flesh. Modern communication technology surely makes data collection far easier than in the last two centuries that ironically saw vast dog encyclopedias published with inferior technology. My ideal dog breed book would be a hybrid between Bruce Fogles' Encyclopedia of the Dog superior photography and text, and the great scope of The Atlas of Dog Breeds of the World.
Rating: 
Summary: THE BOOK I DIDN'T BUY YET-JUST REVIEWED
Review: I, UNLIKE BROOKLYNBOY HAVE A DIFFERENT POINT OF VIEW.IT ISN'T THAT HE DIDN'T HAVE GREAT THINGS TO SAY ABOUT THE BOOK,BUT ON THE OTHER HAND,I AM A BOOK COLLECTOR(DOG BOOKS). THIS BOOK HAS GOT TO BE ONE OF THE BEST WRITTEN,HAS SOME OF THE BEST PHOTOGRAPHY,UP TO DATE WITH BREED STANDARDS(AND RARETIES),WELL IN-FORMED.THERE IS INFORMATION ABOUT EXTINCT BREEDS AND HOW BREEDS ARE STIL SO VERY MUCH A PART OF ALMOST EVERYTHING ...............PER-SAY........MEANING .....A DOG IS A SHEPHERD ,A BABYSITTER, A POLICEDOG, A HUNTER, A THERAPIST,A GUIDE DOG,SEARCH AND RESCUE,OUR HEROES,AND OUR HEARTS,ETC. I GUESS I COULD GO ON AND ON,BUT MY POINT WAS I'VE BEEN WANTING THIS BOOK FOR A LONG TIME AND JUST COULDN'T FIND NOR AFFORD IT AT THE TIME.FOR WHAT EVER IT IS WORTH,I JUST WANTED TO LET EVERYONE KNOW THAT I HAVEN'T EVEN REALLY READ THE BOOK(NOT REALLY),>YOU SEE I WENT INTO A PETSTORE ONE DAY TO LOOK AT THE PUPS AND THIS BOOK WAS THERE AND I PROBABLY SAT ON THE FLOOR FOR ABOUT 1 AND 1/2 HOURS READING VERY INTERESTING, INFORMATIVE, GREAT PHOTOS,A GENIUS OF A BOOK,AND I FELL IN LOVE WITH IT(JUST MY SIZE).I DID NOT WANT TO PUT THIS BOOK DOWN.SO YOU SEE HOW DESPERATE I AM TO WANT AN ATLAS FOR MYSELF......WELL,I STILL HAVE TO WAIT A FEW MORE DAYS UNTIL I CAN ORDER THE BOOK.EVEN THOUGH I HAVEN'T READ IT,I SURELY WOULD RECOMMEND IT,I HAVE READ A LOT OF DOG BOOKS AND IT TAKES A GOOD ONE TO SET ME DOWN,ESPECIALLY IN A STORE(ON A FLOOR ,FOR 1 AND 1/2 HOURS NO LESS)THANKS FOR YOUR TIME!
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Summary: Photos
Review: The Photography in this volume is excellent. It is rare to find a book that gives photos showing both front and side profile for every breed.
Rating:
Summary: A great reference title
Review: This book is a must-have for anyone who wants to know about dog breeds -- not as an in-depth work on each breed, but as a general, informative overview of dog breeds worldwide. It's a great beginning for people who are starting their own research. Pictures are good (in many cases not great, but at least you know what each breed looks like) and information is succinct and well-edited.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting idea, shame about the pictures.
Review: This book is an interesting idea. It contains more breeds than any other, though they are only covered in a superficial way. But it is the illustrations that I find distressing. The paintings are very poor indeed. The colour photographs of the well known breeds are of a chocolate box type, generally of dogs that would never appear in the show ring because of their lack of breed type, or because they have very obvious constructional faults. The book also contains some of my favourite pictures of dogs with missing teeth. Unfortunately it does not seem that the authors nor the production team realised that they were demonstrating breeds using specimens that were far from typical. However the book scores on the pictures of the rarest breeds, breeds that are not illustrated anywhere else. I would rather see a picture of something exotic, even though this picture is of a crippled dog, than see no picture of that breed at all. This book is essential for any serious cynologist's bookshelf, but beware, very few of the pictures are of typical American specimens, and the whole idea of the difference between US dogs and those of the same breed bred in other countries is a bit to subtle to be addressed here.
Rating: 
Summary: General Reference to Dog Breeds of the World
Review: This hefty volume was originally published in 1989. This book is a general reference more for the identification and a brief history of each breed. IT is NOT an in depth review of each breed mentioned. However, keeping that in mind, it is an excellent book for dog lovers who are interested in identification and to learn a little about each breed. There are color photographs thoughout the book, most of which are of good quality. This book mentions breeds that are not recognized by the American Kennel Club (AKC) as well as AKC recognized breeds. Some of the breeds are offically recognized by other clubs such as the United Kennel Club (UKC) and foreign kennel clubs. It is definitely a worthwhile addition to the dog enthusists library. Again, readers should keep in mind that this is a general reference with one to seven pages devoted to each individual breed. For a more in depth look at specific breeds, a volume specific to that breed would be recommended.The breeds are broken up by Terrier, Sighthounds, etc. This is an excellent reference guide and resource for dogs (to be used like a dictonary), and readers who are not looking for a lengthy dissertation on each breed will not be disapointed.
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Summary: For dog lovers only!
Review: This impressive tome (about 14 pounds of book) is a delight for any dog lover. While some photographs are of questionable quality, the majority are stunning. Information on most breeds is interesting and accurate. I went through this book and fell in love with many breeds I had never seen or heard of before. Breeds from all over the world are represented here as well as a few that have sadly disappeared. I have often used it as a reference work when I heard of certain breeds. It helps to see and read a bit about them. It also is a reference to point out to friends what certain breeds look like and for them to get a little insight into the breed. A book this size would seem, however, to be an exhaustive reference work on the world's dog breeds. It is not. But that does not take away from it being a great addition to any dog lover's library.
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Summary: Best reference book on dog breeds
Review: This is absolutely the best reference book on dog breeds I have ever seen. It is huge, containing over 900 pages. There is information on every dog breed. Even extinct breeds are included accompanied by drawings. There is a least one photograph of each dog breed shown in full-color on glossy stock. The more popular the breed, the more photos there are of it. Most are large and several are in full-page format. Information on each breed includes country of origin, registry, group, colors, height/weight, other names & coat description. A detailed history & their personality traits are also included. This is the book to get if you want a great way to learn about rare & seldom seen breeds. The unusual appearance of some the dogs is fascinating.
Rating:
Summary: Very Good Breed Book
Review: We collect books on Dog Breeds and this is by far the most complete and comprehensive book we have found.
There are over 900 pages of dogs and more dogs, with reference to over 400 different breeds from all over the world ... Middle Asian Owtcharka? ... Hygenhund? ... the Majestic Tree Hound? ... and even reference to the rare tree climbing Telomian from the tropical jungles of Malaya ... wonderful! It's a very substantial and heavy book. Paper quality is reasonable but the binding (for such a heavy book) could have been better. A few rare breeds (possibly extinct) are depicted with drawings, but all other breeds are represented by at least one photograph (often more). Photograph reproduction is unfortunately only of average quality. Chapters describing each major dog group (Gun Dogs, Herding Dogs etc) preface the book, providing the reader with useful introduction to canine diversity and function Each breed is described by country of origin, weight, height, coat, registry and group. The authors also provide reasonable summary of each breed's function, temperament, historical background and current development. Subtle humour permeates the book ... "Like a Dr. Suess creation, the Basset has the head & bone of a Bloodhound, the colouring of a Foxhound and the legs of a Dachshund ...". The authors' stated aim was to produce a survey on the breeds of dog known to man. While some reviews say the book is not complete, this reader believes the authors have (for the most part) succeeded admirably with a volume that's well researched, as interesting to read as it is informative. All in all, a very good read and an excellent reference source.
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Summary: 'THE BOOK OF ALL DOG BOOKS KNOWN TO MANKIND'
Review: Well, I surely don't know exactly what to expect in this book just yet, but knowing I'm buying from Amazon.com, I feel very positive about this one, indeed. Being a dog owner and a dog lover, myself, I highly recommend this book added to anyone who's like me who lives to study them. I haven't yet received mine, but will hopefully soon get it through the mail eventually. Shop Amazon and you can save big!! :) This book will most surely contain more than enough dog breeds to boggle the mind, and that includes the rarest, not just the rare breeds, but the ones almost unknown to man that died out or are fixing to become extinct. I myself, own a rare breed, with only 50 purebred registered in Canada---a Canadian Eskimo Dog.
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