Timely and Harrowing

This is information that needs to gain legs. It needs to be more common and influence the decisions we make as a society. Montgomery does an amazing job of covering all the bases. I will say that , for the average audience, it could possibly be a bit dry. Still, I highly recommend it.

This book is so important. It’s one of those books that everyone should probably read, but I can’t actually imagine the vast majority of the human population picking up a book on the history of soil erosion on a whim. If you happen to be considering such a whim, PLEASE DO IT. It may not be the sexiest read, but it’s very much worth your time. This book will blow your mind. Admittedly it starts to feel a tad repetitive at times, but that’s largely because our species apparently keeps making the same mistakes over and over again, and we’ve been trying and failing to convince ourselves to stop doing that for thousands of years. It’s somewhat astounding to see ancient Roman writers making the same comments regarding the loss of topsoil that many people make today. It’s also good to see this book highlighting that this is not inevitable, that there are things we can still do to avoid the catastrophes discussed in the book.

I find it interesting that one of the major critiques I’ve seen in the reviews here is that Montgomery makes organic sound like the be all and end all. In truth, I didn’t get that impression at all. He certainly spends time discussing the forefathers of the organic movement (who certainly had some good advice regarding erosion), but for anyone who pays attention to what the term “organic” actually means in terms of current regulations, it’s fairly clear that these methods of soil conservation are not even mentioned. Doubtless most of these writers would be horrified to see that the organic movement of today has completely ignored their advice in so many ways. Meanwhile there are many conventional farms who keep much closer to the spirit of that wisdom without actually being considered organic. Montgomery makes it fairly clear that tillage is the true problem, and that there are both organic and conventional farms using no till systems to great effect, while tillage in an organic system can be just as damaging as in a conventional system. If anything, Montgomery emphasizes smaller scale operations using no till methods and planting in polycultures... none of which is part of the current requirements for organic farming. Whether or not those things should be part of organic requirements could probably be a whole other book... or several.

Ultimately, this book is very much worth reading. The topic and the writing style may not be as sexy as any number of other books out there, but dirt is important. None of us would be here without it, so let’s give our dirt some love.

Well, his other book is one of my all time favorites so I hyped myself up a bit too much maybe.
First off- it’s depressing af, because it’s true.
There is a lot of good stuff here and very detailed analysis of how different societies managed and mismanaged their soil. However, this book could have used an editor with a more assertive hand; lots of repetition.
I was surprised and how little detail he goes into about the soil food web or mycorrhizal colonies but that’s all in his other book. ,He also goes on and on about worms- bro worms are not native to anywhere on the entire continent of North America. At least that’s my understanding. I’m not a soil scientist so I should shut up.

Who knew dirt could be so interesting!

I've never seen an environmental problem that poses anywhere near as much of a threat to human civilisation as climate change does, or at least I hadn't until I read this book. But soil loss has finished off many an ancient civilisation, and is likely to do for ours too unless we sit up and take notice of the danger it poses. This important and well written book starts by cataloguing the many examples of where human societies have mismanaged and then lost the soils they need to feed themselves. This is a long, and as with many environmental issues, depressing account of human ignorance, greed and stupidity. But there are some small nuggets of hope, proven ways of preserving soil and its productivity over the long term. Lets hope we come to our senses and learn the lessons of the past before it's too late.

This was a bit frustrating to read but it is full of great information. Montgomery does a good job of illustrating how civilizations ultimately depend on dirt to survive. What he fails at, however, is ever really getting into what dirt is and how it’s one of the most complex communities of life in the universe. He basically refers to as an industrial system throughout the book, which is to be expected in our culture. But then, at the end of the book he does reveal that he knows it’s more than that,

“We have to work with the soil as an ecological rather than an industrial system—to view the soil not as a factory but as a living system.”

And yet throughout the book he basically refers to it as a non-organic system of inputs and outputs. Put in more of this and the plants grow. Take out this and they die. All the while omitting what is possibly one of the most amazing living communities on our planet; this symbiotic relationship between plants and animals and minerals to create this beautiful skin on our planet that we all depend on for life! A whole book on dirt and that’s missing!

Nevertheless, it is full of solid information that we should all take heed to protect our soil. The $300 billion dollars in global government welfare to huge agribusinesses to literally destroy the very soil we all depend on must come to end. As Montgomery points out,

“global grain reserves—the amount of grain stored on hand at a given time—fell from a little more than a year’s worth in 2000 to less than a quarter of annual consumption in 2002. Today the world is living harvest to harvest just like Chinese peasants in the 1920s.”

As many other writers have pointed out we have went way beyond the carrying capacity of our planet and our push to extract more and more out of the planet is only reducing the ability of future generations to survive. I do wish Montgomery had given some effort to describe soil as a living system, but it’s still a book worth reading and for that I still give it four stars.

Take good care of your dirt and it will take care of you. If not, you're going the way of the Mayans, Virginians, Essenes (ritual bathing is not going to mean much if your sewage washes back into the water supply) and Dust Bowlers. With meditations on Darwin's study of the value of earthworms, dirt and the Civil War, the politics of guano and our friend, the peanut.

A truly fascinating look at the relationship between civilizations and their soil. Professor Montgomery draws compelling connections between the sterilization of dirt and the collapse of nations, highlighting unsustainable agricultural practices and ignorance of proper refertilization of soil as major factors.

Some highly interesting cultural experiments here too, such as the adoption of no-till agriculture in Cuba after US-implemented trade bans prevented necessary foodstuffs from reaching their shores. Also included is the self-cannibalization (almost literally) of the Easter Islanders after clear-cutting their forests. Recommended for anyone who would like to see a different and balanced outlook on traditional farming.

Quite a few chapters of this book were required for my Environmental Geology class at the University of Wisconsin-Superior. It was so compelling that I read the whole book. Most people don't think about the world before our feet and how soil affects our daily life. By concentrating on the history and mechanics of soil erosion, the book refrains from preaching yet manages to teach a timely lesson. If you we don't value our soil, our civilization won't be long for this world.