Rating: 
Summary: The only source for the truth.
Review: "The Emperor Wears no Clothes" spells out the conspiracy that resulted in the illegalization of hemp. It is very well documented. Jack Herer uses interesting anicdotes, actual news paper clippings, and proven facts to illistrate the oudasity of prohibition. This book is definantly a one-sided view of a controversial issue, but it is the view least often presented. It is full of facts that the conspiritors never wanted you to know. I don't think the avgerage person could find this info any where else. This is why this book is very difficult to find. If you want the full prohibition story, or you wonder how hemp could be benificial, or you're wondering how people could think it is/isn't benificial, read this book. It will answer these questions and more!
Rating:
Summary: The final word on marijuana and hemp ecology
Review: Although some of the historical data can be called into question, the essential claims of this book remain unrefuted by the disinformation campaigns of the anti-marijuana lobby. Herer shatters cannabis myths; he shows, with hard data that: pot has absolutely no toxicity to human tissues; pot has anti-carcinogenic properties; the tar, although greater in proportion than tobacco, is completely water-soluble; smoking marijuana shortly after having a stroke prevents the swelling of the brain -- and consequently much of the brain damage and loss of function associated with strokes.
Rating: 
Summary: The View of Scholars
Review: Historians strongly disagree with this book's claim to be an "authoritative historical" work: there is very little 'history' here. As a researcher myself, I would make the following brief comments on a mere handful of the book's distortions to serve as examples:
1) There was no accusation of cannabis possession or other drug usage in the trial of Joan of Arc: the transcript of that trial is one of those which I myself have translated from the original manuscripts, and no such charge is listed anywhere in either set of articles against her (not in the initial 70 articles nor in the final 12), nor was it ever mentioned in the course of the trial; the author simply made that up. There was never any suggestion that she used cannabis to produce her "voices": instead, her judges claimed (in Article XI of the final set) that the beings which she identified as angels and saints might be fallen angels instead.
2) The oft-cited claim that the presence of "unique" THC receptors is evidence of some sort of crucial link between human evolution and pot usage shows a profound misunderstanding of the way such receptors work: they do not typically bind only with a single "unique" substance, and in fact the receptors with which THC interacts (CB1, CB2, and an interaction with the opiate receptor which is still under study) were designed for chemicals in the body (anandamide and 2-arachidonoyl-glycerol); the opiate receptor was designed to react to endorphins and similar chemicals in the body. Just as certain drugs happen to bind with the opiate receptor due to a chance similarity in molecular structure, THC binds with CB1 because its structure happens to be just close enough to "fit". Arsenic and other poisons happen to interact with certain sites in the body for the same reason; presumably, we will now have to deal with the claim that the body was designed to consume arsenic, too.
3) Medieval books were expensive because they had to be painstakingly hand-written (and later, printed using a clumsy and laborious process), not because of any ban against paper, hemp-based or otherwise. This should hardly need to be said.
4) While the author is correct in saying that the ancient Scythians (for example) did use a cannabis-based substance, there seems to be a persistent attempt to add other ancient cultures to the list by deliberate distortion of the context (such as misinterpreting certain Hebrew words in order to claim that early Jews and Christians were using cannabis, too).
5) In another obvious gaffe, the book tries to claim that the Bible (of all things) supports pot usage by deliberately misinterpreting certain English translations (such as the one which uses an archaic definition of the word "herb" to translate Hebrew words such as "zara'on", which means "vegetable"), or by taking out of context Paul's comments about Jewish dietary laws (which banned certain meats, such as pork, which were common in the Greek-speaking world in which Paul was trying to win converts; hence the statement that any "creature" or "animal" ("ktisma" in the Greek version of the original manuscripts) is valid for consumption. Marijuana is not an "animal", although I've literally seen people try to argue that it somehow qualifies as such in order to support the author's views on this particular subject). A similar argument is invoked when dealing with a passage preaching against the outlawing of foods, with smoked marijuana suddenly being reclassified as a "food" in this case so the claim can be made that the Bible is hostile to current drug laws, all the while ignoring the passages which specifically forbid people to be under the influence of any such substance. The list can go on. It's hard to know what to say in summary to a book like this: as many scholars have pointed out, it's little more than fiction and fluff, and certainly does not qualify as "history" in any sense of the term.
Rating:
Summary: THE BOOK ALL OF AMERICA NEEDS TO READ
Review: I can't begin to explain how this book has changed my life. I was your typical closet marijuana advocate, afraid to talk to anyone about this subject, until I read this book. Jack Herer (and his many friends and associates) have opened my eyes to the HUGE conspiracy that has ruined the lives of 700,000 American citizens a year. I never knew that Hemp had so many uses...and I now believe that it COULD save the world, but we must get this message out. Read this book, and recommend it to every person you know - smoker or not.
Rating:
Summary: It's very interesting and informative.
Review: I liked the book and the stories were all really cool. The retelling of the "Hemp" War of 1812 was informative. I also enjoyed reading about how the U.S. government actually encouraged farmers to grow Hemp in the 1940's
Rating: 
Summary: What was everybody talking about
Review: I wish that the world could get it together, and start being more responsible. If this book is true then it sounds like hemp is the way to do that. It can be used for so many different things, an alternitive source of fuel, for clothing, for paper products. If you listen to what the author says, then there are more uses, but with the oil companies and every other big money making market that could be replased by cheaper, better, envirenmentaly safe hemp products in control, we will never see that. The auther also prases the effects of marijuana. Another product of hemp, almost saying that it has no effect on you and that it is good for you. This (I know from experence is not true.) I heard it put so well by someone, I don't remember who (Pot makes you feel fine with doing nothing). And when you are doing nothing your life can start to fall apart.
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Summary: The Hemp Bible
Review: I wrote 10 Foolish Fortune Hunters not only to tell the true story of a marijuana grower but to present an environmental theme via dramatic action.I started researching hemp in detail after deciding to do my book promotion radio talk shows around the legalization of hemp farming.Now that I have read The Emperor Wears No Clothes, I know it is the only book I need to fuel these talk shows. What I find most interesting in the book is the way William Randolph Hearst manipulated the American public so that we would illegalize the farming of hemp. He had his newspapers print articles on a car accident where a marijuana cigarette was found at the scene. This was one car accident, mind you.He never bothered to print the thousands of alcohol related car accidents. Hearst, you see, was worried that hemp paper would become a standard in the newspaper industry. Rightly so, because it was a better quality paper and cheaper to use. He had millions invested in the timber industry and couldn't afford to let this happen. This is the kind of manipulation occurring more and more by those in power. This is the source of the great hemp lie and this is what we need to convey to the public. Hurrah Jack Herer!
Rating:
Summary: 10 more stars * Phenomenal AN ABSOLUTE MUST READ
Review: If you haven't read this book You have missed the boat.If it was up to me it would be required reading in High School. Every person on this planet deserves to know the truth about this natural herb given to us by the universe, and how the Powers THAT BE took our right to choose, took our freedom away. You can't afford not to read this book.
Rating:
Summary: Jack is no historian or pharmacologist.
Review: Jack does make some outrageous claims about marijuana in the history of this planet but I would have to say he has more knowledge about industrial hemp than any other person on the planet. I wouldn't really rely on anything the man says about history or pharmacology but he has some really good things to say about the possibility's of industrial hemp, one of the best parts of this book is the massive appendix of primary source material, I recommend this book to everyone just make sure you take his history lessons with a shaker of salt. Someone claiming to be a historian made a big error mentioning receptors, THC does not bind with any opiate receptors. It binds to the anandamide receptor. At the time Herer wrote this book, the receptor had been discovered but anandamide had not... so his speculation about why the receptor existed wasn't completely ridiculous at the time (at least it wouldn't have been ridiculous for a non-pharmacologist like him).
Rating:
Summary: True to the word!
Review: Jack Herer has been an authoritive figure for the reform of marajuana laws and this book is why many others join in his fight.
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