Klaas-­Douwe 'KD' B Dijkstra developed an interest in natural history as a child living in Egypt. KD was a founding member of the Dutch society for odonatology in 1997, was editor of its journal Brachytron, and co-authored the handbook of Dutch Odonata published in 2002. As a research associate of the National Museum of Natural History Naturalis in The Netherlands, KD has worked on the systematics and biogeography of tropical African Odonata since 2001. In 2005, he shared the Worldwide Dragonfly Association outstanding achievement award for this work. Asmus Schröter is an expert on the European dragonfly fauna, with a special interest in identification, ethology and biogeography, especially that of mountain regions and the Subarctic. Asmus is Executive Editor of the international odonatological journal Notulae Odonatologicae.

Over forty years, Richard Lewington has built up a reputation as one of Europe's finest wildlife illustrators. Richard studied graphic design at the Berkshire College of Art, and since leaving in 1971 has specialised in natural-history illustration. His meticulous paintings of insects and other wildlife are the mainstay of many of the modern classics of field-guide art, including The Butterflies of Britain and Ireland, Field Guide to the Moths of Great Britain and Ireland and Field Guide to the Bees of Great Britain and Ireland. He has also designed and illustrated wildlife stamps for a number of countries. In 1999 he was awarded Butterfly Conservation's Marsh Award for the promotion of Lepidoptera conservation, and in 2010 the Zoological Society of London's Stamford Raffles Award for contribution to zoology.

Acknowledgements
Introduction
Regional guide to dragonflies
Identification
Appendices
Index