Today’s review is about HOW HERBS HEALED THE WORLD by Connor Smith. This, unfortunately, was a rare DNF (did not finish) for me. And it was an ARC at that. As always, I request ARCs with the best of intentions, but sometimes I just won’t click with one of them.
Author: Connor Smith
Series: None
Age Category: Adult
Publisher: Mobius
Publish Date: July 23, 2024
Print Length: 224
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Official Synopsis
Herbs are wonderful things. Without them so much would not be possible. With the advance of science over the last two hundred years these once mystical plants have changed and saved countless lives, vastly improving our standard of living while providing us all with a much richer, healthier diet. Today, we take for granted a world full of life-saving drugs, luxury cosmetics and exotic foods.
This fascinating book will tell this story: revealing how poisons once used by the ancient Romans such as Deadly Nightshade are now being used in modern medicine or how the herbs used by indigenous people around the world have provided remedies for countless illnesses. It will explore the myths and legends behind herbs such as the infamous Mandrake and how herbs such as Yarrow are still being used to treat wounds today, just as they were thousands of years ago; and it will show how exotic herbs from across the globe have enriched our lives and delve into the origins of the culinary herbs that everyone knows and loves.
Seventy-five herbs have been carefully chosen to tell the story of how they have each changed our world, looking back at their origins and what was once believed, while comparing this with the modern day uses and the scientific value of these plants enabling the reader to understand and appreciate their importance.
Each double page spread will provide both historic and modern illustrations of each herb alongside captivating accounts of their historical and modern day uses including supplementary botanical and horticultural information for each.
My Review
As someone who gardens, HOW HERBS HEALED THE WORLD naturally caught my eye. The promise of short histories of various herbs sounded intriguing, particularly since I like to grow quite a few of my own. Unfortunately, though the subject matter interested me, I chose to not finish it at about 25% in.
I can look over the formatting issues, since this is an advanced reading copy. Albeit, there were several sections with jumbled sentences that were illegible. What ultimately caused me to put down HOW HERBS HEALED THE WORLD is how the author delivered the information. There are so many herbs for the author to write about that each section is, frankly, too short for the amount of information to communicate. Not only does the reader learn about the etymology of the scientific names, but also historical and current uses as well as where it originated or any other fascinating historical tidbits.
The issue I personally had is I felt like I was reading an incredibly abridged encyclopedia entry for each herb. It was dry. The information didn’t flow very well. I think part of the reason it didn’t feel cohesive is because it lacked a narrative for each herb. There wasn’t exactly a story that held up each entry, so my attention waned. In short, I think this book tries to cover too much ground. Perhaps this is a nonfiction format that appeals to others, but sadly the presentation style wasn’t for me. It might be best for a reader who just wants the quick and dirty factoids and historical tidbits about several dozen herbs.
Rating: —
Content warnings: none
Reading format: Kindle e-book
I can see how this information would be boring unless the author had a flair for storytelling. Sorry this didn’t work for you!
Yea, I needed there to be more of a narrative, either about each herb or connecting each section together. It was just too dry for me.
The premise is interesting but I can see how 75 plants can be a bit too much for a casual introduction to the history of herbs (sounds fascinating) and perhaps even a bit too little for those who want to use this as an encylopedia.
Yea, for me it was a weird middle ground. But I’m sure someone else will like it!
I’m sorry this was a DNF for you! I don’t normally read nonfiction but would be open to for a topic I’m really interested in… but I get how this format can seem dry. I wouldn’t want to read it and feel like I’m doing homework.
It’s ok. I was looking forward to it since I like to garden, but you can’t win them all!
I agree that this sounds like it tried to cover too much! For a popular “history” (of plants) kind of book, I’d expect something that focuses on fewer herbs and maybe tries to tell interesting stories about them. Like, I don’t know, “Napoleon once sneezed because someone put an herb in his soup and that’s why he lost his first fiance” or, “Elizabeth I was known to use this herb in her makeup,” or something along the lines of “weird history.”
That’s what I was more or less hoping for, but there really wasn’t a cohesive narrative for each section of the book, much less each herb. So it just didn’t hold my attention, unfortunately!
The premise sounds very interesting to me too. The dryness of the narrative would have thrown me off too.
Oh well, luckily I don’t feel the need to DNF very often. I’m sure this’ll be a better fit for someone else out there!