In this beautifully designed and illustrated book Miranda Seymour provides an extraordinary compendium of information about herbs – often useful, always fascinating and occasionally very strange.

For each individual herb – whether henbane, parsley, cannabis or woad – the author describes its characteristics, growing habits and effects , as well as exploring the lore and beliefs attached to it. Here, not only will you find out about the modern uses of herbs such as which can counter the detrimental effects of chemotherapy, or which can be used as shampoo or to stun fish, you can also discover what Homer’s Greeks used as sleeping potions, what the Romans took for indigestion, why Henry VIII fined any farmer who refused to grow marijuana, and which herb the 72-year-old Queen of Hungary used to extract a proposal from the King of Poland.

This fascinating book will delight any cook or gardener, anyone dedicated to healthy eating or intrigued by ancient lore.