Excellent book for knowing what each plant does in a Chinese Herbal Formula
924138
If your interested in the energetics of how each plant in a compound found in a Chinese Herbal formula does this is the book for you. Wonderful explanations and recommended dosages.
2534926
The minute I saw this book I had to pick it up. It was on one of my favorite subjects, herbalism. The book is about home-grown medicine and more specifically about herbal medicine. The book is beautifully illustrated with color pictures of each of the 33 herbs discussed, tips on how to grow the herb and it's medicinal uses.

She starts the book with a introduction to medicinal herbs, their benefits, starting a medicine garden and general introduction to the world of herbs. In chapter 2 she talks about how to make your own remedies.  Herbs can be used in the forms of teas, syrups, oils, salves, tinctures, herbal pills, baths, poultices, and compresses. There is also information on the dosage and duration of herbal treatments.

She talks about herbal gardening in the ground and in pots, and makes a distinction between herbal tea for pleasure and herbal tea for medicine. Generally the medicinal herbs are steeped longer and have a stronger taste. Each of the 33 herbs has it's own beautifully illustrated section and recipes for that herb. For example, in the secation on Thyme there is Thyme Syrup, and Thyme Honey.

This book is very comprehensive and a superb begnners guide as well as a good source for more advanced students of herbalism. I plan to buy a copy of this book for my library.  -- Valerie Lull, Author, Ten Healthy Teas
3725747
This was highly recommended by an herbalist naturpath in Canada.  The section on lemons and ginger alone make this book worth the money and more.  There are formulae for a variety of conditions and the descriptions, effects, and practices of use is well written and easy to understand.  I would recommend this as an addition to anyone's library of aromatherapy and medicinal uses of essential oils.
4163893
A beautiful and very useful book. Well researched, with full page spreads for the herbs that the author considers most useful. If you've ever tried to explain to a doctor or to a friend what you were taking and why, a photocopied page from this book can be help. My only (slight) complaint is that I wish the index were more thorough.
1250675
I love this book.  The author covers both the medical use as well as the spiritual significance and use of each herb.  It is a great book to keep by your bedside and read about a different plant each night.  I would give this as a gift to anyone who loves herbs!
3969542
This book is a must have for any student of herbal medicine.  Great price, book was in immaculate shape, and the book offers chapter after chapter of great info, and with a fresh outlook for those interested mainly on TCM. Truly a gem, I can't immagine being unhappy about buying this book. My Thanks to the author for sharing his wealth of knowledge.
3246013
This book has A LOT of information.  I like that each herb is classified by their Chinese/ Ayruvedic properties.  As in each herb is described as hot/cold, moist/dry ect.  Not really for the beginner herbalist, but is a nice reference resource.
2453694
This is a great book for beginners just starting to dabble in herbal medicine.  The description of each herb, the instructions for infusions, decoctions, tinctures, syrups and poultices is written in easy to understand (for beginners) language.  The recipes presented inside are easy to follow and made with readily available ingredients.

A person with some knowledge of herbs and herbal medicine will find this book a priceless reference for the actions of some of the herbs presented inside.

This title is a keeper (5 Stars) because of the great information presented inside that can be accessed when needed.  Beginner, amateur, and master herbalists will find this book a valuable and pleasurable read.
3469756
This is the best herbal book I've read by Rosemary Gladstar. The recipes are wonderful, if you can find all the ingredients. I highly recommend it for anyone interested in making their own herbal products. A+
1400567
I bought this book because I had seen a free video of Ron Teeguarden online at a conference put on by David Wolfe.  I was highly impressed with Ron.  He's had training in herbalism (and other subjects such as meditation and breathing exercises, which are not discussed in this book) from a number of Asian teachers, including Daoist Master Sung Jin Park.  I hadn't realized it, but the traditional teachings is that certain of the "premier" Chinese herbs can have profound vitalizing effects, and can retard aging.  The book gives an overview of the traditional Chinese teaching about jing (physical reserves of the body), chi (energy), and shen (the "light" of consciousness) which I had heard from an acupuncturist but didn't know much about.  Certain herbs, when consumed, have the ability to increase one or more these if they have been depleted, or maintain them.  Some herbs have a "bidirectional" effect on various physical conditions, i.e., lowering blood pressure if it is high, and raising it if it is low.  I enjoyed reading this book.

His book has the recommendation of three Chinese Ph. D.s, two of whom are or were professors at China Pharmaceutical University, and have a string of other academic credentials, and a president (probably former president by now - the book was written in 1998).
564960
"The New American Herbal" by Stephen Orr, book review

This book is a gorgeous collection of all the information you could ever want about herbs and spices. Each herb is detailed with info about history, use and pictures.  In addition, there is general instructions on the various uses of herbs including drying, cooking and using in oils and vinegars.  This really could be a coffee table book because of the incredible photographs of all the herbs and plants.

"The New American Herbal" would be a great book for those interested in knowing more about where their food comes from and how to use it.  Or for the cook looking to incorporate more fresh herbs in her cooking and baking.  While there is limited info about growing the herbs, it does contain enough info for the back yard gardener to successfully add herbs to his next garden.  Or for the beginning gardener who wants something a little different than the regular basil and parsley.

Disclaimer:  I received a copy of this book from the publisher.  All opinions expressed are my own.  This book was reviewed by my daughter, Bethany, who is a Soil Science master's student at Washington State University.
1330700
I have had this book before and I gave it to my daughter. I missed it so much I bought another. It covers a wide variety of herbs, telling you how it is grown and where, what it was used for and if there is any scientific proof that it is a valid use, including if any part of the plant is poisonous and how much. The pictures and drawings are clear and very helpful for identification. There is also a section to tell you how to prepare them and make your own preparations.
4963882
This book begins with an introduction that is helpful both to those new to herbal medicine or those with more experience who want an overview of the power of herbs.  It then covers five must-have herbs and why they are so powerful, followed by details of 30 other herbs you may need.  Then the book is broken into section on type of ailment, each containing recipes for homemade herbal cures.  Each recipe not only includes ingredient lists and helpful preparation tips, but also information on prep time, and how to store the finished product (unless it should not be stored).  All of the recipes are easy to follow, and the built-in index, optimized for Kindle, makes it a snap to find what you are looking for.

I received a copy of this book for free in exchange for my honest review.
4071780
This book was easy to follow with step by step directions and the recipes have turned out great.  Just like we find in our favorite Chinese restaurants.  Many of the ingredients are found in my local grocery store, so it doesn't even take a trip to a Chinese market. Don't skip the introductory pages.  The introduction gives valuable background on cooking utensils, how to cut vegetables, and how to stock your pantry with all the right ingredients.  There are many colorful pictures, but I would have preferred them after each recipe rather than grouped together towards the end of the book.
686502
Wonderful resource for learning and reviewing single herbs. The pictures of the herbs, the pin yin and Chinese characters that accompany them are wonderful, too. However, the pictures in this book preceding the properties, indications and actions for each herb really make this an invaluable resource.
3543993
This is an amazing book.  It talks about herbal uses, the history and how to identify many different flowers.  There are beautiful photographs or drawings of each flower.  I would definitely recommend this book to any  flower lover, and also to people that want to learn more about using common  flowers for herbal healing.
477737
I had the great fortune to study herbs with Matthew Wood, and the unpublished, unedited manuscript of this book was the class book for one of his classes.  I still have the spiral bound book from class, and I have also purchased this book for my library.  The published version has been truncated from the manuscript, but the main essence of the book remained and herbal information intact.  Matthew Wood has a vast knowledge of herbs coupled with his knowledge of the body's systems.  He is intuitive with his approach and combines that with his knowledge of herbs.  He also works homeopathically with herbal tinctures.  This book is the book that I refer to the most for this knowledge and remedies.  Note that I was a book seller, and my personal library has about 400 volumes of various herbal books, including old herbalist volumes out of print and not available.  This book is succinct for remedies and cross-referencing is easy.  This is a must for every herbalist whether seasoned or beginner.