Medicinal Plants of the Mountain West

Rating:
Summary: Simply outstanding for its time ...
Review: ... but let's face it, that's over 20 years ago now. Back then you had to look _really_ hard to find anything with even a glimmer of a hint of tips on picking, or (gasp!) practical uses.
Michael's later books in the "Medicinal Plants of the" -series got steadily better, with the "Medicinal Plants of the Pacific West" being the crown of the trio, beating _all_ the other practical guides out there with a very wide margin.
Sure, buy this one, if you live in the Mountain West - as likely as not you won't find anything else as good on the plants in _your_ region.
Buy it, too, if you're a die-hard Michael Moore -fan. His writing was entertaining back then, too.

But if you don't live out there, or don't yet know Michael Moore's writings, go get the Pacific West book instead. And wait for the revision of this, his oldest book. It _should_ be out one of these years.

Rating:
Summary: Usefull, Detailed, and Funny
Review: An excellent book for beginners, experienced herbalists, and other medical professionals alike. This book, like Michael Moore's others are seldom available used because people keep them and use them-alot . They are usually the most worn from use on any herbalist's shelf- including mine.
Medicinal Plants of The Mountain West has lovely and useful illustrations to aid identification. More photos would help though.
The text is lucid, funny and very helpfull. Beginners will find step by step instuctions on harvesting with care and attention to protecting habitat, medicine making, clear and detailed information on judicious medicinal use, and plenty of food for thought on history, health and healing and how your own body works, as well as gentle and experienced guidance through the sometimes confusing state of herbal medicine in the market economy Western world. Unlike many other herbals, this book clearly and simply explains how and when to use herbs (and when not to use them) as herbs- not as "little"drug replacements.
Herbalists and other health care practioners will find an amazing amount of helpful clinical detail and creative approaches to therapeutics. Although this book that is often placed in the Field Guide section of the book store it is a concise yet articulate materia medica based in the authors extensive experience as a therapist, harvester, and medicine maker.

Doctors, pharmacists, nurses, and allied health professionals will find this book to be an oasis of sane , seasoned advice on how to use herbs and how to understand what your clients are taking. Amidst the onslaught off nearly useless books on botanical medicine written by journalists and pharmacists who couldn't tell a chickweed from an oak tree, and whose personal and professional experience practicing herbal medicine is usually less than Peter Rabbit's cup of chamomile tea, Michael Moore's books offer clinical experience grounded in Western science and traditional cultural use. His writing encourages cultural competence, treating Native and Latino plant medicine with care, and respect.
Many of us have been waiting along time for this second edition. Buy it, use it, share it

Rating:
Summary: A Great Resource for the Mountain West
Review: I've got to say that although I've never read the book and am at a loss to explain what it is about, this is a monumental achievement in the field of bookwriting, specifically bookwriting about plants that are medicinal, and it is the definitive book about plant medicine for people in the mountain west and a must have for all botanists and other plantpeople, whether or not you know anything about medicine, plants, the mountains, or the west, and you should buy this book as soon as you possibly can, for your life may depend on it, because if you are out in the wilderness and get sick you need to know how to heal yourself, and since there are no pills in the woods you need this book to tell you how to make them out of the plants that surround you, for if you don't, you could die of the sickness you have, but if you are in the east or in the west but not in the mountains you should seek out another book as well because this one is specific to medicinal plants of the mountain west, meaning that it only mentions plants that are medicinal that grow in the mountains of the west, but this is a wonderful book for all ages to learn more about nature and medicine at the same time, and I highly recommend it.