An overview of the world of dragons, from ancient Greece and medieval Europe to pre-Columbian America and ancient China, features lore about the origins, feats, and histories of these mysterious beasts If you ever encounter a dragon, it would be good to have this book on hand. Thanks to it, you will be able to recognize the particular species of the beast you have met, whether worm, basilisk, cockatrice, tarasque, peluda, or mere dragonet. Knowing such information could keep you from accidentally feeding a baby wyvern, as a girl named Maud did in Herefordshire, whereupon it grew into a winged monster that terrorized the countryside until it was finally dispatched by a fearless knight. Charmingly written and gorgeously illustrated with dragons ranging from Babylonian Ishtar's guard dragon as portrayed in mosaic bas-relief to Quetzalcoatl in Mayan codices to the creature Saint George famously fought, this is an excellent popular folklore tome. Patricia Monaghan