A Modern Herbal (Volume 1, A-H): The Medicinal, Culinary, Cosmetic and Economic Properties, Cultivation and Folk-Lore of Herbs, Grasses, Fungi, Shrubs & Trees with Their Modern Scientific Uses

These series of books are great and totally cool. Totally worth getting though ironically it becomes obvious that the reader would have to do much more extensive research before trying to use the formulas/ingredients in these home cures to be safe or effective. That said... what were you expecting? Be careful! Many plants that are medicinal are also poisonous.Cons: The book uses old world terminology for plants that can be unspecific or hard to find to say the least. Also, medical science has since delved so far into the use of plants that not only is there a vast majority of plants and what not that cannot be covered in two books but there are differences and variations in herbs and the soil they grow in that change there effectiveness. Also many of the cures are for ailments that rarely exist in our USA first world like stomach worms etc...Pros: You get insight on how old school people actually formulated medicine. It's interesting as well as worth knowing. It also gives you insight into the pharmaceutical propaganda machine. 99% of all medicine today is literally a derivative or synthetic version of something that already existed in nature. Which is exactly what makes these books so worth reading it basically is a giant refresher that many, many, many years ago people didn't go to a pharmacy they relied on knowledge of the land. Not to discredit modern medicine but keep that in mind next time you hear about a pharmaceutical company trying to claim patents on a plant or spending billions to keep certain plants and their derivatives illegal for your consumption. This book is a pharmaceutical companies enemy i.e. the fact that there are natural cures for many things outside of a pharmacy.

I am in school for medical herbalism and this book, along with volume 2, are amazing for information on herbs. Many books out there have colored picture to identify but they lack the deeper knowledge on each herb. I found that knowledge here with these books! If you are looking for information in depth, this and volume 2 are a must have.

As a student of herbology, I am familiar with Margaret Grieve's two volume set of books called "A Modern Herbal". It is a classic in the field of herbalism. It is a reference book, but a very interesting reference book. Originally published in 1931, it contains monographs on hundreds of herbs. There are illustrations of many herbs and for a reference book, it makes good casual reading.Some of the information is dated, like the scientific names under the old system, many herbs have been renamed since the book was written. She also gives interesting folklore about the various herbs. In one entry I read about a debate in parliament about the herb in question and possible legislation being proposed for it. Some of the herbs and their uses "back then" are not used now and we now have a lot more science behind the use of herbs than she had.Having said that, the two volume set of books still carries a lot of weight in the herbal world today. In many of the herbal courses I have taken there are direct quotes and references to her writings. Anyone with a serious interst in herbology should get this set of books. I know I'm glad I got them. -- Valerie Lull, Author, Ten Healthy Teas

Confession: I like reference books. As a kid we had a full set of encyclopedias, an old set of The Book of Knowledge, and a medical reference book. I used to read them all for fun. I have no intention of making my own herbal concoctions, but I am interested in how plants can be used. This can be dry reading, to be sure, but it suits my desire to have lots of knowledge sitting on my bookshelves. I wish there were more illustrations of the plants, which is why I give it 4 stars.

Great book.Id give it a five stars except that the illustrations are in black and white, making the plant harder to identify. This I solve by looking them up in google images. The drawings are excellent but still you need to be VERY certain and many of the medicinal plants are similar.The biggest positive is that it tells which plants have actually been used for pharmaceutical use in the 1930s as opposed to other books that only say "said to be useful" which is almost a worthless comment. Also clear warnings as to which are poison or toxic.It will take most people a dictionary to understand some of the arcane terms used. So a brief lexicon of terms would be useful.

Love this book

Needed book for class, great book

I ordered this book as a supplement to those I already own. I like the fact that it has information that isn't always available in other books: plant history, superstitions surrounding the plants, recipes, etc. It's in two volumes so you need both. I think this book and it's companion are a very worthwhile addition to any herbal library. The only reason I gave it four stars is because it can't be used to identify plants. If it had really good quality photos or drawings, it would be 5 starts plus.

Maud Grieveis a well known figure and is one of the all time experts on herbs.This is an exceptional herbal.The Kindle Version has the advantage of being easy to take out with you when looking at herbs and has a good search function.With regard to the information, this herbal gives a very interesting and well researched background to both the folklore and the medicinal uses of a huge range of herbs.This is head and shoulders above any other herbal that I have ever used, the information is superb, across an amazing range of plants.If you are interested in finding out a lot more about a wide range of herbs then this is the book to go for.Superb

I have found Modern Herbal books content over internet online and was astonished by generous amount of details, very descriptive texts, plenty of rare uncommon facts and very accurate information for publication on herbals dated 1920s!!! I became very anxious to obtain this book for my personal library at home. I have found that the reprint is available for order at amazon from trinity city books. While my exemplar show some signs of damage, this paperback book itself is made so properly in order not to wear off during yet very long time! Number one book recommended for everyone interested in herbals, botany and reprints of old books!

Love this book, very informative, wish I'd bought volume 2 at the same time.

If you want to know everything there is to know about herbs this is the book for you. It is quite simply a classic.

again happyt with purchase