PETER LAUFER, THE DANGEROUS WORLD OF BUTTERFLIES: THE STARTLING SUBCULTURE OF CRIMINALS, COLLECTORS, AND CONSERVATIONISTS

War weary after writing a book about Iraq, Peter Laufer joked before an audience that his next book would be about butterflies. The result: an invitation to a butterfly preserve in Nicaragua. There he stumbled into a theater of intrigue full of strange and nefarious characters--all in pursuit of one of nature's most delicate creatures. "The Dangerous World of Butterflies" chronicles Laufer's unexpected discoveries in the butterfly industry and underground. Readers will learn everything there is to know about the beauty and magic of butterflies. But Laufer's narrative takes unpredictable turns into the high-stakes realms of organized crime, ecological devastation, species depletion, natural history museum integrity, and chaos theory. Set in locales throughout the Americas and beyond, this fascinating book takes us into a behind-the-scenes world sure to alter our view the next time we delight in the colorful fluttering of butterflies in our yards.