Palmer Chiropractic Green Books Review

We are so thankful to Dr. David Russell for this review of Palmer Chiropractic Green Books: The Definitive Guide and to the Association for the History of Chiropractic for publishing it. It is republished here with permission. The pdf is posted below. Follow this link to read the Introduction.

Book Review

Palmer Chiropractic Green Books: The Definitive Guide

By Timothy J. Faulkner, Joseph Foley, and Simon Senzon

Copyright 2018: Timothy J. Faulkner, Joseph Foley, Simon Senzon, & Integral Altitude, Inc.

First Edition

584 pages

Price $100.00

Publisher: The Institute Chiropractic

ISBN 978-0-986-2047-3-9 (pbk)

Paperback; limited color edition also available in Hard Cover

Palmer Chiropractic Green Books: The Definitive Guide by Timothy Faulkner, Joseph Foley, and Simon Senzon is an excellently presented and very important book. It is a textbook for chiropractors and chiropractic students alike, a guide for Green Book collectors, and an introduction to the original chiropractic paradigm for scholars and the public.

The book provides a philosophical and theoretical overview of all 44 Green Books, written from a historical perspective. For the Green Book collector, the book includes the first definition of a Green Book, a Green Book Master List comprised of every known or suspected printing or edition, sorted into 123 Green Book Master Numbers. The book addresses many questions about the Green Books such as missing numbers in the series, duplicated numbers in the series, as well as content of each book.

The Green Book overview comprises 14 chapters of the book and discusses the unique contribution of each book, without repeating many of the definitions and ideas that are common to all the books. Several new insights emerge amongst the hundreds of images, which include original advertisements for the books, such as the important role B.J. Palmer’s pamphlet series played in the books, the evolution of ideas throughout the books, the integration of the chiropractic paradigm across several disciplines taught in chiropractic education, and the final chiropractic thoughts of both D.D. and B.J. Palmer.

The chapters on the Palmers are the first comprehensive examination of their complete writings. Chapters 2-4 covers D.D. Palmer’s many articles and his three books. These chapters provide the reader with the latest insights about D.D. Palmer’s most philosophical thoughts as well as his views on science, spirituality, and chiropractic practice. B.J. Palmer’s contribution to the Green Books is covered in Chapter 5 and Chapters 10-15. This is the most complete exploration of B.J.’s works ever undertaken. The chapters emphasize how his ideas develop over time in the context of his life and the profession’s evolution. The final sixteen books (Chapters 12-15) include a topical approach to his innovative views on chiropractic and philosophy.

Chapters 16-18 were written for collectors, both the novice and the enthusiast. These sections include details about the Green Books as historical artifacts and collectible rarities, and in terms of their expected value. A value and rarity scale is developed along with a detailed list of every book, another first in chiropractic.

Palmer Chiropractic Green Books: The Definitive Guide is important for the profession at this time. Too many articles in the literature are dismissive of the original chiropractic paradigm without demonstrating a depth of knowledge about the history and the ideas. This overview of the books offers the profession a jumping off point to refresh and renew discussions about professional identity, the value of history, and the future direction of the profession. The book also offers a way for chiropractors to anchor their own library to a long tradition of Green Book collecting and enjoy one of the pleasures of being a chiropractor.