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Green Pharmacy: The History and Evolution of Western Herbal Medicine

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The sick and suffering in the USA who are appalled by current high prices for their medication will be amazed to learn this struggle has been unceasing throughout human history. Barbara Griggs describes how for many centuries inexpensive herbal remedies were fostered by women who were unable to afford the costly medicines or services of established doctors. For current times, the author explains,"The quiet revolution which is gradually bringing plants back to centre-stage is patient rather than doctor-driven. It is patients who may be bankrupted by the cost of medical treatment, if they are not lucky enough to be clients of a generous national health service"pg.369 An outraged public is making this a major concern of the presidential election. To intelligently deal with our current medical dilemma, read and absorb this studiously prepared history of ways of healing.

Green Pharmacy is one of the best books to read on the history of Herbalism and its connections to medical treatments. I liked it because it clearly explains how the principal constituent when isolated for conventional medicinal purposes, can cause harmful side effects. The book reveals that using herbs as a whole plant is more beneficial. A very educational book.

Ms. Van Der Zee has written a book that is quite fascinating! For me this particular book was required reading, but Im actually glad that it was because I learned a great deal about the history of herbal and general medicine throughout the millenia. The history and facts are interesting and higly readable. Ms. Van Der Zee makes you want to keep reading. Green Pharmacy is a book that is not only a "must read" but a definite "must own".

This is a wonderful easy read about the history of western herbalism. It is very thorough without becoming dry or overbearing, and is written in a very pleasant style.

This book is a must read for every one, not only interested in herbal medicine, but any kind of profession related to medicine. It explains in detail where the aggressiveness and ignorance of todays medicine comes from and it gives a clear understanding of where todays battles with diseases, cure all medicines and the hidden folk medicine emerged from and that we have tampered with the same problems for several hundreds of years.
This book finally gives me an understanding of that what seems to be latent in the human persona, is to find that one quick fix and that one miracle drug that immediately cures the problem and that applies to conventional as alternative alike (of course not all). Wonderful reading, I truly enjoyed it and learned tons and this book should be read in the schools. Thank you.

Barbara Griggs is described on the back cover of the book as a "renowned journalist and researcher in the field of herbalism."

She wrote in the Introduction to this 1981 book, "In the mid-1970s, when I began to work on this book there was already a widespread and genuine revival of public interest in that medicine which we call herbal... How did it happen that almost from one century the next, medicinal plants were officially consigned to near-oblivion? What were the professional, or economic, or social forces that brought this about? ... could it be that we are neglecting a therapeutic resource of immense potential? These were some of the questions that arose in my mind as I read my way into the subject: I have tried to answer them in this book... I am also aware that this book risks being read as a wholesale attack on the medical profession, although this was far from my intention."

Here are some additional quotations from the book:

"In the grave of Neanderthal man, in a cave in Iraq, grains of flower pollens were found thickly scattered in the soil surrounding his bones... the pollens were identified as coming from eight different genera of flowering plants ... Of these eight species, seven are still used for medicine in dozens of different ways by the local people." (Pg. 5)
"(Samuel) Thomson's simplicity of theory - 'cold ... is the cause of all disease' - earned him the contemptuous scorn of the Regulars, who dismissed him as an illiterate empiric." (Pg. 165)
"By 1813 homeopathy had become a force to be reckoned with in Germany - homeopaths were highly successful at treating the typhoid fever that Napoleon's tattered remnant of an army brought back with them from Moscow. And slowly, news of (Samuel) Hahnemann's theories spread throughout Europe, attracting many doctors who were dissatisfied, as he had been, with the medical practice of the day." (Pg. 179)
"The young American Wooster Beach had probably never heard of Hahnemann, but he shared with him and Samuel Thomson a horrified aversion to Regular medical practice, and a strong religious conviction that he had a personal mission to change the face of medicine." (Pg. 179)
"(T)he Flexner Report burst like a bombshell on the great American public. It revealed in lurid details the low standards, the poor equipment, and the inadequate or non-existent clinical facilities of many of the nation's medical schools... The Flexner Report achieved more than the wildest dreams of the (American Medical Association). Within the next four years 29 schools went out of business..." (Pg. 250-253)
"By the early 1960s, adverse drug-reactions of all these different kinds had become so common that they could be described as a new disease. And the new disease was given an name - 'Iatrogenic' or doctor-induced - by Ivan Illich..." (Pg. 285)

Green Pharmacy is packed with history of herbs and medicine with plenty of discussion and room for thought on the future of herbal medicine!

I received this in the mail yesterday afternoon. I am very excited to learn the history of herbalism and this is but the first step along the way I have high hopes that this will be a great information source and was referred to me by a few teachers. I did get a damaged copy for $2 but its really not as bad as they had made it seem all I need to do is heat the binding to get the cover to stick to the spine of the book.

the historical aspect of this book is excellent and makes a good read. The last chapters about the current herbalism trends are a bit weak though.

This book is a must read for anyone interested in medicine and/or herbal medicine. It covers an incredible amount of history, presented in a very easy to read and engaging style. I couldn't put it down!