Sybil Leek's Book of Herbs

by Sybil Leek, Stephen Leek (Illustrator), Julian Leek (Illustrator)

Examines the mythology of herbs, the history of their use, their culinary, cosmetic, and medicinal value, and the lives of several herbalists.

199 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1973

About the author

Dubbed "Britain’s most famous witch" by the BBC.

Because she rose to media fame in the 1950s after the repeal of the 1735 Witchcraft Act in 1951, she had an effect upon the formation of neopagan witchcraft, namely the religion of Wicca. Strong in defense of her beliefs, Sybil sometimes differed and even quarrelled with other witches. She disapproved of nudity in rituals and was against the use of drugs, but she was at odds with most other witches in that she did believe in cursing. She was one of the first of the modern day witches to take up environmental causes.

Reviews

[Braeden · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I was walking down the isles of the nonfiction section of my school's library, I found this book. Sybil Leek’s book of herbs stuck out to me due to a couple of reasons. One of them is the mandrake-like creature on the cover. Another reason is the way this book is organized. It is sorted by applications and general history of herbs throughout time.

This is purely an informational read, there is no plot or characters outside of Leek herself. What kept me reading was the next bit of information always looming on the next page. If you love learning new information, then you will find this book difficult to put down. I picked this book up one evening after passively reading it over the course of a week or so and knocked out half of it in one night.

However, there are a few issues in this book. The most surface-level mistakes are hard to ignore. There is quite a prevalence of spelling and grammar mistakes, most notably during the 3rd quarter of the book. I found myself disconnected from the book after these incidents. Another quarrel I had with the book is the sprinkleing in of fiction throughout. I’m not talking about the legends and stories, as all of those usually have some elements of magic and fiction scattered about. No, I’m talking about the occasional reference to witchcraft and other pseudoscience. After reading a large portion of very useful knowledge of herbs, I would come across a comment on how “if the root of the herb isn't cut this way, then your magic love spell won’t work.” These comments distracted me and brought me out of the story.

In the end, this is an informational nonfiction book of herbs. It describes applications, history, lore, recipes, and various other pieces of information regarding herbs. I believe this book does its job well, and that it’s an easier way to ingest this material than a textbook or herb compendium. I would recommend it to anyone interested in growing or using herbs.

[Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book, useful and humorous, as well as historical in the many uses of herbs since ancient times. It's a keeper