"The book of my enemy has been remaindered. And I rejoice..." Clive James
Welcome to the updated Herbal Bookworm, now more focused on in-depth critical reviews of important herbal medicine texts with an emphasis on core principles of Western herbalism, both philosophical and clinical.
The reviews are primarily intended for healthcare professionals lacking familiarity with the field of herbal medicine, as well as for students of herbal medicine, and of course any interested surfing reader.
Multiple internet sources claim to offer "information" about medicinal herbs. Often these are obviously flawed or blatantly biased by commercial factors, while others claim to be authoritative simply because they mention "scientific" data and studies. Much published herbal "information", is compiled and presented by writers without qualifications or experience in herbal medicine, or even any kind of medicine at all, let alone knowledge of the plants themselves. They invariably violate the essential principles of the subject without even knowing it. Often however, there is a specific agenda, political, regulatory or ideological behind such efforts, which is not necessarily obvious to those unfamiliar with the terrain.
Medicinal herbs are not the same as herbal medicine. Information about herbs per se, including much of the "science", even when compiled and presented intelligently (a rare enough event) and with the best of intentions (also rare) is intrinsically limited in practical terms by lack of any clinical context or understanding of the principles of botanical medicine. An analogy would be like thinking that a knowledge of needles enables one to understand or practice acupuncture.
Phytotherapy (herbal medicine) is a distinct medical modality with a unique philosophy, materia medica and therapeutics quite distinctfrom that of modern mainstream biomedicine. Despite claims by fashionable new departments of "integrative" medicine, the ultimate success of any "integrative medicine" process involving incorporation of herbal medicine depends on understanding and preserving the integrity of these core principles, not subordinating them to the mainstream model.
No excuses are therefore offered for the fact that the reviews on Herbal Bookworm tend to be what Winnie the Pooh might have called Very Long Rambles, (which of course, as every Bear knows, shows how Very Important they must be). Curmudgeonly they may be, but dumbed down not at all.
Some Herbal Bookworm reviews have been published elsewhere, especially in the Journal of the American Herbalists Guild, and some have been rejected by the best peer reviewed journals in the business. New ones are added from time to time. You have been warned, these reviews have caused controversy in the past, and will do so in the future. However, the consensus amongst people who know what they are talking about is that most of what is said herein is pretty much on the money. (not in the money - unfortunately).
Navigation Notes - 2005
Reviews can be read online by selecting titles from the drop down menu at the top of this page.In a review, click on the author name for author bio pop-up. Click on the picture of the book for publisher details, ISBN etc. pop-up. Some of the reviews can be downloaded as pdf files from the download section. Several of these are required reading in herb school curricula.
The Herbal Bookworm • Herbal Hypotheses • Cancer & Herbal Medicine
What is Herbal Medicine • Herb/Drug Interactions
Plants of the Pacific NW • Consulting • Downloads • Herblog
