The Complete Medicinal Herbal: A Practical Guide to the Healing Properties of Herbs, with More Than 250 Remedies for Common Ailments

"Indispensable for the armchair herbalist

I just bought my second copy of The Complete Medicinal Herbal (my first was lost) and am so happy to have it back again!

Ms. Ody certainly knows her herb uses and she shares that knowledge in a straightforward, understandable manner. The images are plentiful and make plant identification easy. Luckily, while this book is currently out of print, it can often be found used, for an affordable price.

Be you an armchair herbalist, a writer in need of common sense reference or just curious, this book is well worth the having.
"
~ Written on 2008-02-10

"I use this book often. The illustrations are great and clarifies
which parts of the herb to use. The instuctions covering how to prepare assorted concoctions is essential."
~ Written on 2007-02-16

"I thought this book was the most complete herbal book I have ever seen. Why? The A-Z listings with the pictures were great. She breaks down the several ways each herb can be used and for what along with making it easy to understand. She includes dried herbs, oil, tincture etc. She shows a picture of each, what to do with each and how to do it. With illustrations she shows how to harvest and dry, how to make herbal remedies, (again with picture instructions) Tinctures, infused oils, along with and creams and ointments. I thought it was extremely detailed and designed for the beginner. I am a true believer in natural medicine and the use of essential oils and herbs but I don't want to take classes or do a huge study to know what or how to use them. This is the answer. Simple, good pictures, complete as I will ever need and for the beginner and advanced alike. This book is a must have!"
~ Written on 2005-09-13

"The book is lovely as far as pictures goes, but she leaves out some basic stuff that a beginner wants to know. I managed to figure it out, but it wasn't easy. For instance, she tells you to use a simple, but then doesn't explain the term.

I bought the book specifically to make eucalypus oil and a cough syrup, but she really doesn't tell you which method, hot or cold. With the herb Comfrey, she tells you it's a hot infusion and with Marigold she tells you it's a cold infusion. Being a beginner, I didn't know the difference between an infused oil and an essential oil, which caused alot of frustration. If she had devoted a couple of sentences under the infused oil section explaining that essential oils are very different and need specialized equipment, it would have saved me some frustration and less disappointment of the book. I had to find this out by searching on the internet.

She is from the United Kingdom and all her recipes are in european measures, so they all have to be converted, and I really had a hard time with that, maybe you won't. Although she does give you a conversion table for dosages. I did manage to make a cough syrup but I had doubts about my calculations. My husband is still alive, by the way.

She mentions Cherry bark as one of the remedies for coughs but doesn't have Cherry bark in the visual directory, which means there is no information on it at all.

After having said all of that, the descriptions and pictures of each plant is wonderful. Also, she lists combinations that are good together, like for coughs. There are 85 herbs listed in the book. It makes a good reference, but I will definately need another book to supplement it."
~ Written on 2004-01-21

"A must have book! If looking for an exhaustive herbal, you might try the German monographs, and others (although I've yet to see an all exhaustive on herbology), but for home or professional use, this is an awesome book! Has some projects, and many uses for the herbs that are in this wonderful book.

A library wouldn't be complete without it!"
~ Written on 2002-10-17