Reviews
"[An] intelligent, wide-ranging account....Taylor uses the intriguing substance, prevalent in both China and the eastern U.S., as an occasion to ponder the different approaches to medicine in the East and West and to present some amusing characters, including traders, experts and the 'ginsengers' who hunt the 'sang.'"
—Publishers Weekly
"Taylor is no stranger to discovering the secrets of natural history....Here, he takes us on a fascinating tour through ginseng's history, writing in a style that shows he obviously enjoyed his research and the people he met; in his descriptions of natural settings, he reads like a master storyteller....Who knew that this unassuming root had such a colorful history and promising future?"
—Library Journal
"Taylor here traces the commercial complex surrounding the ancient herb ginseng. He profiles his guides through the hierarchy of the ginseng business, from collecting it in America to its sale in China, its main market....Including discussion of the medicinal benefits attributed to ginseng, as well as interesting historical arcana-the Jesuits, the Qing dynasty, and Daniel Boone oddly have ginseng in common-Taylor's adventurous tour should tap into the root's rising popularity with herbal-product consumers."
—Booklist
"It's amazing how much folklore, history, and science Taylor has managed to pack into this fantastic book. Ginseng, the Divine Root is one of those rare works that remind us what an endlessly surprising place the world is by revealing the drama concentrated in the past and present of one plant."
—Boston Globe
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