This text is the first in a unified series entitled Essentials of Chinese Medicine that is an effort on the part of the publisher and authors to use concise, accurate and simple language to transmit the essential knowledge of traditional Chinese medicine. There are a number of such books available; this one is well assembled and highly useful. Materia Medica presents 318 commonly used herbs categorized into 19 chapters based on therapeutic effects. The most common or the imperial herbs are presented in depth, each on a full page. Every herb is introduced by its unique characteristics and compared to its related herbs. Supplemental information is also provided in the comments section to clarify or to express some important concepts. Remarks and differentiations are provided at the end of each chapter, and the back matter includes a list by Pinyin names, an index of Latin pharmaceutical names, Chinese pathological terminology, and a bibliography. It's the kind of book that you'll want to keep on your desk in your clinic and that you'll likely turn to again and again for details of an herb's classification, function, taste, temperature, and indications.The author, a graduate of Beijing TCM University, taught for 10 years in the PRC and subsequently has taught herbology for 10 years in the U.S.