A Russian Herbal: Traditional Remedies for Health and Healing

For decades now, you can walk into any pharmacy in Russia and find herbal remedies on the shelves right alongside medicines. There is a simple reason for this: they work. Some of these remedies border on the amazing, they are that effective. This book is the first and only book in English that shares with you the centuries of Russian herbal wisdom. What you'll find here are not the usual pages of "Take this for high blood pressure, 3 capsules, twice a day," etc. Instead you'll be reading detailed accounts of not only how the herbs and plants have been used down through time, by Russian doctors and researchers as well as everyday people, but also the whys and hows of using them yourself, as well as clear and simple instructions on the varieties of methods for preparing these remedies at home. There are many stories about the plants themselves, stories that you may soon find yourself sharing with friends and family. For more scientifically-minded readers, the pharmacological effects of the plants are listed, together with any precautions or special points to note. All of these plants and herbs are available in the west. If not in your fields and forests, then via herb stores, either local or over the Internet. In regards to the author not listing the Russian names for plants: the Latin names of the plants are listed under their "botanical names." With these it's simple to either do a Wikipedia search or a Google search and find the Russian names. Make sure you can read Cyrillic before trying this! But please note that you don't need to read a word of Russian to benefit greatly from this book. Highly recommended for herbalists and anyone interested in natural remedies and healing.

An absolutely fantastic book on the use of medicinal herbs, from the Eastern European tradition. I love this book and it compliments my Western herbals nicely, bring different ideas and remedies to the table for comparison. There isn't really much for me to say here, I have a good library of many of the best herbal books available and I refer to this one often. Sometimes I use a method in this book, and sometimes a method from another, but I always compare this to my American and Asian books, for a refreshingly different style of treatment. Solid, reasonably professional (not another photo and gardening "herbal" to cluck about at the coffee shop, but an actually useful manual), clearly written English. Highly recommended.

Great book except for one problem. I would of liked to of seen the Russian name of the herb also.

Nice herbal, has a lot of the standard herbs plus a few more. According to the author, Russian physicians are required to learn herbalism along with contemporary medicine, and for this reason many of the herb uses have been proven in laboratory situations. The author shares information gleaned from Russian-language resources, translated into English language, regarding his understanding of the medicinal uses, folk traditions and mythology surrounding the herbs. Well researched book; although the author does not appear to be a doctor himself, it appears that he is a university graduate based on his work as an engineer. His family's folk healing traditions are the basis for his knowledge and ability to share information effectively to the mainstream reader and consumer. I have found this book helpful, and a great addition to my household herbal library.

I'm sorry I don't have time to review this book in depth, but seeing that it hasn't gotten any reviews yet, I want to recommend it as a very well put-together herbal, with good introductory chapters (one of which includes the use of the "water banya" in the Russian preparation of medicinal herbs, and how to make one), and an extensive materia medica. Most of the herbs listed are quite familiar, and some include pertinent folklore. The materia medica is followed by "Complex Herbal Formulas" relating to the various organ systems. The fact that it is a Russian herbal does not, by any means, make it obscure. (I only wish that, beneath the Latin name given for each herb, a translation of its Russian name were given.) I highly recommend it to anyone interested in herbalism.

great information and i really appreciate that it's translated. my roots are slavic but my russian is not good enough to decode the complex herbal books of the motherland. i do hope this book gets a few updates as i noticed that a lot of the treatable symptoms are the same .... for example, lots of mention on treating boils! i'd like to know about more, common maladies that can be treated.

I have used a lot of the recipes in here and it is an excellent book to have if you are interested into Russian (Soviet) herbalism.

I have many herbal health books, but his has become one of my favorites. Has recipes on how to make blends. Worth the money and there are ways to use some of the herbs that I have not seen in any other book. What I also appreciate is the reference to research that was done on the herbs, Not available for all herbs, but never the less useful.If you like the book Indian Herbalogy of North American by Alma R. Hutchens then You will like this book

So, this book seems to be one-of-its-kind in English. It's a good pioneering overview, the only one available for many who're interested in this topic (although more extensive information can be found in Russian). The author is Russian and has some first-hand experience with some of these treatments. I also enjoyed his short summaries of the cultural and historical stories of some of these plants. However, there is one major flaw: nowhere does the author list the original Russian-language names for any of these plants. This makes it hard to search for further information in Russian, or ask a Russian-speaker about something (and did he really think that no Russian-speakers would ever use his book?). The book does list the scientific names of the plants in question, though. What I've had to do to make the book usable for me is type each of these scientific names into the Russian Wikipedia's searchbox, and then write the Russian names in pencil above the English plant names. If anyone wants to save themselves the trouble of going through all that, here's the full list, by page number: 24 Aloe - Aloe vera 26 Althaea - Altey, Sliz'-trava, prosvirnyak, proskurnyak, kalachiki, dikaya roza 28 Angelica - Dudnik/Dyagil' lekarstvennyy 29 Anise - Anis, Bedrenets 30 Arnica - Arnika gornaya, Barannik gornyy 32 Barberry - Barbaris 33 Barley - Yachmen' 35 Betony - Bukvitsa lekarstvennaya 36 Bilberry - Chernika 38 White birch - Beryoza belaya 40 Bistort - Zmeevik bol'shoy, Gorets zmeynyy, Rakovye sheyki, Zmeinyy koren' 41 Buckbean - Vahta tryohlistnaya, Trilistnik vodyanoy, Trifol' 42 Buckthorn - Krushina slabitel'naya, Zhoster slabitel'nyy 44 Burdock - Lopuh bol'shoy, Repeynik, Repey 46 Calendula - Nogotki lekarstvennye, Kalendula lekarstvennaya 47 Carrot (wild) - Morkov' dikaya 48 Carrot (cultivated) - Morkov' posevnaya 50 Celandine - Chistotel bol'shoy 51 Chamomille - Romashka aptechnaya/lekarstvennaya/obodrannaya 53 Cinquefoil - Lapchatka gusinaya, Gusinaya lapka 55 Clinker polypore - Chaga, Beryozovyy grib 57 Red clover - Klever lugovoy/krasnyy 59 Coltsfoot - Mat'-i-macheha 60 Comfrey - Okopnik lekarstvennyy 62 Coriander - Koriandr posevnoy/ovoshchnoy 63 Cowslip - Pervotsvet vesenniy/lekarstvennyy/nastoyashchiy 65 Cucumber - Ogurets 66 Dandelion - Oduvanchik 68 Dill - Ukrop 70 Elder - Buzina chyornaya 72 Elecampane - Devyasil vysokiy 73 Everlasting - Sushenitsa topyanaya/bolotnaya, Zhabya/poreznaya/chervivaya trava, Gorlyanka 75 Fennel - Fenhel' obyknovennyy, Ukrop aptechnyy/voloshskiy 77 Flax - Lyon 78 Garlic - Chesnok 81 Yellow Gentian - Gorechavka zhyoltaya 83 Hawthorn - Boyaryshnik obyknovennyy/goryuchiy/sglazhennyy 84 Horse chestnut - Konskiy kashtan 86 Horsetail - Hvoshch polevoy/obyknovennyy, Tolkachik 88 Iceland moss - Tsetrariya islandskaya, Islandskiy moh 89 Ground Ivy - Budra plyushchevidnaya/stelyushchayasya, Sobachya myata 91 Juniper - Mozhzhevel'nik, Veres 92 Knotweed - Gorets perechnyy, Vodyanoy perets, 94 Lady's mantle - Manzhetka obyknovennaya 95 Lemon Balm - Melissa lekarstvennaya, Limonnaya myata 97 Licorice - Lakritsa/Lakritchik, Solodka golaya/gladkaya 98 Lily of the Valley - Landysh mayskiy 100 Linden - Lipa 102 Marjoram - Dushitsa obyknovennaya, Oregano 103 Meadowsweet - Tavolga vyazolistaya, Lobaznik vyazolistyy, Tavolozhnik 105 Nettle - Krapiva dvudomnaya 108 Oak - Dub (pronounced "doob") 110 Pansy - Fialka tryokhtsvetnaya, Anyutiny glazki 111 Parsley - Petrushka 113 Peppermint - Myata perechnaya 114 Periwinkle - Barvinok 115 Pheasant's Eye - Adonis vesenniy, Goritsvet, Chernogorka, Starodubka 117 Pine - Sosna 120 Raspberry - Malina 122 Restharrow - Stal'nik kolyuchiy 123 Rhubarb - Reven' pal'chatyy 124 Rose hips - Shipovnik sobachiy, Roza sobachya 126 Rowan - Ryabina 127 Rue - Ruta dushistaya/pahuchaya 129 Rupturewort - Gryzhnik gladkiy/golyy 130 Sage - Shalfey lekarstvennyy 132 Shepherd's Purse - Pastushya sumka, Sumochnik pastushiy 134 Skullcap - Shlemnik balkayskiy 135 Speedwell - Veronika lekarstvennaya 137 St. Johnswort - Zveroboy prodyryavlennyy/obyknovennyy 139 Strawflower - Bessmertnik/Zlatotsvet/Tsmin peschanyy, Suhotsvet, Solomennyy tsvet 140 Thyme - Timyan/Chabrets polzuchiy/gustovolosistyy 142 Tormentil - Lopchatka pryamostoyachaya, Kalgan, Lopchatka-uzik, Dubrovka 143 Uva Ursi - Toloknyanka obyknovennaya, Medvezhya yagoda, Medvezhye ushko, Medvezhyi ushki 144 Valerian - Valeriana lekarstvennaya, Koshachya trava 146 Wild yam - Dikiy yams, Dioskorea 147 Willow herb - Ivan-chay 149 Yarrow - Tysyachelistnik obyknovennyy, Poreznaya trava In two places, the scientific name given is for the American variety of a plant rather than the Russian: on p.120, Rubus strigosus is given instead of Rubus idaeus (raspberry), and on p.146, Dioscorea villosa is the American wild yam, and it is unclear which of the Eurasian varieties is meant. Also, on p.140, "Thymus serpellum" should be "Thymus serpyllum".