Dirt, soil, call it what you want--it's everywhere we go. It is the root
of our existence, supporting our feet, our farms, our cities. This
fascinating yet disquieting book finds, however, that we are running out
of dirt, and it's no laughing matter. An engaging natural and cultural
history of soil that sweeps from ancient civilizations to modern times,
Dirt: The Erosion of Civilizations explores the compelling idea that
we are--and have long been--using up Earth's soil. Once bare of
protective vegetation and exposed to wind and rain, cultivated soils
erode bit by bit, slowly enough to be ignored in a single lifetime but
fast enough over centuries to limit the lifespan of civilizations. A
rich mix of history, archaeology and geology, Dirt traces the role of
soil use and abuse in the history of Mesopotamia, Ancient Greece, the
Roman Empire, China, European colonialism, Central America, and the
American push westward. We see how soil has shaped us and we have shaped
soil--as society after society has risen, prospered, and plowed through
a natural endowment of fertile dirt. David R. Montgomery sees in the
recent rise of organic and no-till farming the hope for a new
agricultural revolution that might help us avoid the fate of previous
civilizations.