A witty, informative, and myth-busting account of the Purple Emperor butterfly, one of Britain's most captivating butterfly species.

The Purple Emperor is one of England's most elusive and least-known butterflies. Matthew Oates has spent fifty years trying to unravel the Emperor's secrets. Many mysteries remain unsolved, but enough are revealed in this book to enable experts and non-experts alike to go out in search of a butterfly that thrills and enthralls all who encounter it.

This is a good-news species, at a time of massive wildlife decline. And this is a joyous--often rapturous--account, written in plain English, as a labor of love.