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Witch Doctor's
Apprentice
Hunting for Medicinal Plants in the Amazon Nicole Maxwell Pages: 391 Search
Alibris Used Books |
| Table of Contents > |
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Introduction By Terence
McKenna |
| Description > |
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When Nicole Maxwell first traveled to the Amazon over 45 years ago
she had no idea that she would make a life's work of the people,
plants and lore there. Decades before the world's drug companies
were interested in or even aware of the knowledge of plant medicines
passed down over centuries by native shamans.
Witch Doctor's Apprentice is a testament to her work and
her life. Far away from being a dry recitation of the cataloging of
plants, Witch Doctor's Apprentice is an adventure of the
highest order. In this beautifully written and tremendously exciting
book, Ms. Maxwell takes us into her world and opens a vivid window
into the wilds of the Amazon. |
| Reviews/Excerpts > |
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This memoir of travels in the Amazon has an agreeable twist: Nicole
Maxwell was hunting for medicinal plants with the triple goal of
conserving the jungle, improving the lot of humanity and having a
great deal of fun. Her tales span countries and decades, as we watch
her mature from an enthusiastic if somewhat naive idealist to a true
trouper. Despite setbacks and disillusionment, she never lost sight
of her goal, and lived to see others pick up the task of cultivating
important medicinal plants and knowledge, and further her cause of
preserving the jungle through wiser use. - Amazon.com
Nicole Maxwell first visited the Amazon in search of medicinal plant lore more than 40 years ago. Her engrossing adventure story is an inspiring plea for civilization to save the plants and people who know how to use them before they are destroyed forever. For this newly revised edition, Ms. Maxwell catalogues plants mentioned in the text and their medicinal uses. Long hailed as a major work of ethno-medicine, this re-release could not be more timely. - Ingram First published in 1961, this is the third edition of the remarkable experiences and findings of Nicole Maxwell, a Fellow of the Royal Geographic Society who traveled to the Amazon jungle some 45 years ago, and made a life's work of the people, plants, and lore there. Predating the world's drug companies interest and even awareness of the possible treatments that can be derived from the Amazon's flora, Maxwell's findings remain revolutionary and largely ignored by the medical establishment. Provides tremendous insight not only into these naturally occuring medical treatments but the culture of the people as well. Black-and-white photos. "A spirited and engrossing personal narrative, as much about people and places, discomforts and dangers, the beauty of the jungle and the arc-leap of wordless communication across cultural barriers, as it is about...bringing natural medicines of the Amazon to the investigative attention of modern medicine...fresh, immediate, personal and individual. " -- Anne Gottlieb, The New York Times. |