Napiers History of Herbal Healing, Ancient and Modern

About the Book: 

Herbalism is the oldest form of medicine in the world. It has been practised for thousands of years, and is still the most widely used method of healing in existence. This concise history reveals the development of herbalism through the ages, a unique journey from Neolithic Kurdistan to present-day Edinburgh. It also contains the casebook and autobiography of Duncan Napier, a Victorian practitioner of herbal medicince, with notes from a modern herbalist. From the creation of Lobelia Syrup for coughing to the 48 foot tapeworm, the history of Napiers makes for fascinating reading.

Reviews: 

[A] curious combination of history, reference and popular science. SCOTLAND ON SUNDAY

About the Author:

TOM ATKINSON had a very interesting life. After serving in the RAF throughout WWII, he spent the next twenty years in the diplomatic service of the Republic of Indonesia, having been in a position to help the young Republic to become established, during the latter part of his RAF service. This is described in his contribution to this book. 

Tom left Indonesia just before the horror of the military take-over in 1965, when a million or so Indonesians were slaughtered. Since then he has been a hotelier in the remote north-west of Scotland, followed by ten years on a small self-sufficient farm in west Wales.

Returning to Scotland, he founded Luath Press, and wrote a series of guide books to his beloved West and North of Scotland.

Later he helped his herbalist daughter to breathe new life into Napiers of Edinburgh, a herbal consultancy established in 1860, and he operated Napiers Mail Order business for three years, before retiring for the third time.