Michael Tierra

A book for living a life? One of the most practical books that everyone should own. Hint: it is much more than simply a book full of memory tricks -- but it has those as well.

This is the best book I've yet to see on the main aspects of TCM diagnosis. Too bad it is so pricey for students but I think it is worth the cost and will prove to be the definnitive reference for TCM diagnosis. I highly recommend it as a text for all students and teachers as well as a refresher for longtime practitioners.

With over 40 years clinical experience as a TCM doctor, and having owned hundreds of texts on TCM, herbal medicine many of which are as this book is, a formulary, listing 100's of formulas that one can select and use in a clinical setting, it would seem that, no, I don't need another formulary book. This one is an exception. Written and compiled by two of the leading exponents in the field, Andrew Ellis and Volker Scheid. Each are well qualified to but together such a book especially since they were among the co-authors who compiled and wrote CHINESE HERBAL MEDICINE: FORMULAS AND STRATEGIES," from which it would seem this book is derived. However great a book Formulas and strategies is -- and it is in fact, definitive, it is not all that practical and easy to use in a clinical setting where time is a consideration. Further, few of use have photographic memories of for instance the 180 formulas presented in this present volume. In fact, I have always taught that the practice of herbal medicine is similar to a religious person who mast chang a rosary or mala prayer beads for a time every day, so also an herbalist must be reading he materia medica, a cllection of individual herbs and formulas, on a daily basis. It is beyond the capability of most mortals to retain all there is to know about herbs and herbal formulas. Tradtionally, the training of TCM students as 'singing' doctors was because they learned to sing the names and indications of an herb or formula in an attempt to recall the most pertienent clinical information. The "Handbook of Formulas in Chinese Medicine" is written in the most colorful graphic and concise manner so as to facilitate access. All one needs other than a physical hands-on exerience is to read the back jacket cover for appreciate why this is such an important and eminently useful book to own.