Review of "BIRDS OF THE GREATER SUNDAS, THE PHILIPPINES AND WALLACEA" by Arlott, Princeton Illustrated Checklists, to be subsequently referred to as GSPW.
The first fact to report is that I have not yet traveled to Indonesia/Malaysia, so this field guide will not be truly put to the test until Aug. - Oct., 2020.
This is the 5th birding book from the Princeton University Press that I'll be using, but the first labeled an "Illustrated Checklist" vs. a field guide. I'm comparing this to "Birds of India", "Birds of Thailand", "Birds of Europe" and "Birds of Southeast Asia".
The bird illustrations in GSPW are slightly smaller than those in some of the field guides, but I don't think the smaller size will generally be a problem. A quick search through the pages indicates that most of the similar birds are found on different islands/countries. I do like the fact that those similar-looking birds have been placed on the same page to make identification easier. On the down side, it does appear as though the reddish-orange colors are a little too saturated and some of the darker shades are too dark. Overall, the illustrations are fairly good, but not excellent.
The written information opposite the illustrations is a bit skimpier than a true field guide, but does describe habits, calls, habitats and country/island where the species can be found. There is no information dealing with identification making the illustrations all the more important.
All range maps have been relegated to the back of the book. It would have been nice had they been placed opposite the illustrations.
With 179 illustrated plates the book covers more than 1,900 species, and the size is very manageable. The specs are 13cm X 19cm X 2.5cm and weighs about 450 grams. (Being a Yank, I had to do all these conversions to metric; I hope you appreciate that!)