This book comments on the original text of William Withering's An account of the Foxglove and some of its Medicinal Uses, and goes on to introduce the botany and pharmacology of the foxglove. It also discusses its therapeutic uses.

'This book is a delight, from start to finish, touching upon all manner of fascinating topics...a most enjoyable text.' New Scientist 'It would be invidious for the reviewer to select for special mention any particular chapter from Aronson's history and critique because each one is so well-written, so thoroughly researched and so full of fresh material...With three indexes and over 250 references to complete the work we can rightly say that the Oxford pharmacologist has written a classic about a classic.' Journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners.