A Modern Herbal, Vol. I: Volume 1

I knew M. Grieve was going to be top-notch, but when I dazzeled my herb teacher with my materia medicas I was even more impressed! Excellent, excellent descriptions, information, history, etc. It's all here!

This "Modern" Herbal is anything but, and thank god for that. A lay herbalist for many years, I've thumbed through countless books that censor themselves for fear of legal action. Their listings for certain "toxic" herbs saying nothing more than two sentences on how a particular herb should be avoided at all costs.In A Modern Herbal, we get a peek at a pre-litigious era, where herbs were used and studied with caution, but certainly not discarded entirely.I particularly enjoy cross-referencing herbs I enjoy (melissa, st. john's wort) in both this book and modern books (Susun Weed, Michael Tierra, et al) to get a fresh perspective on the tried and true.Beyond the wealth of information, I've also enjoyed the writing style. I've read passages out loud to my sweetheart for a good chuckle.

I have several shelves of herbal books in my den, and I have to say that none are as complete and informative as this two-book set by Maud Grieve. As a relatively new student to phytotherapy (herbal therapy), I am finding these books to be the reference that I go back to again and again for the most comprehensive information. These books not only describe the medicinal uses, chemical compositions and harvesting techniques of the herbs, but also the useage history and everyday (aka non-medicinal) recipes and useages. It should be noted, however, that these books are from England, and the focus of harvesting locale is often unrelated to my own North American terrain. As well, they are several years old and may not reflect the most up-to-date studies. Nonetheless, I would HIGHLY recommend this set to anyone who has even a cursory interest in the herbal area, as an integral part of your reference library!

The name sounds good. You are looking for today's information on herbs. After all, only the latest and greatest will do. And, here it is on Mountain Valley Growers recommended book site. What could be better? Not much! But, this is not a book hot off the presses. This two volume encyclopedia goes back 60 years, when two women put their individual skills together to create a work that should be on every herb gardeners shelf. The writer Maud Grieve and her faithful editor Hilda Leyel created a work that has not been duplicated since. We use this book at least once a week here. Each plants many common names are listed as well as the part used and its habitat. They give us a growth description, talk about the chemical components of each herb and advise us on the medicinal action of these components and how they are used. If other species of the same genus are used that is included. Every time I pick these books up I learn something new and I have been reading and studying herbs for 20 years. Two of my favorite sections are on lavender and hops. See for yourself why.

If you just have a love of herbs and plants or are a serious student of herbal lore and research you need these books. (both volumns I & II) I don't know how many times I have been pulling my hair out, from trying to find a specific herb and what its either used for or what it was used for, only to end up with going to one of the two volumns by Maud Grieve and finding them. Silly me, for not checking with these two books first when I started getting stumped. The research done in the books is extensive, some of the medicinal uses are outdated, or the plants aren't used anymore. For a set of books to last and be reprinted, and still be in print after 50+ years is astounding. Ok its astounding to me, you might not be so astounded, just slightly impressed. Not only do you get the plant descriptions within these books, the plants that are poisonious are marked as such. Virtually everything you might think you need to know about a specific plant is here. Exceptions being the modern research. One great thing I have found though is, once you have located the elusive plant of your desire, it makes it 100% easier to track down its modern uses if there are any. If you don't have these books, regardless of your interest in plants, you should. The price is wonderful, the information fantastic.