Customer Reviews

Dirt: The Erosion of Civilizations

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While David R. Montgomery goes on a bit long and repetitively about how and why and where and how fast soils erode, the more interesting part of the book is the new look at history--why the Romans sought new lands to conquer, how Thomas Jefferson tried and failed to get widespread adoption of contour plowing, how the depletion of the southeast's agricultural soils provided yet more impetus for the Civil War, how even in ancient times writers urged soil husbandry, yet were largely ignored as they still are today, how monoculture, slavery and now industrialized agriculture speed up the process by which land will become unable to sustain growing human populations. It's a sobering message that we ignore at our children's peril.

Though the title says Dirt, it should actually say Soil, as this book is about how numerous civilizations destroyed themselves by adopting unsustainable farming practices that eventually destroyed their land. The author examines the histories of England, Roman Empire, ancient Greece, pre-colonial Ethiopia, Mesopotamia, Pharaoic Egypt, continental Europe, Communist Russia, the antebellum South, Colonial New England, and China. The conclusions he draws from all are the same, agricultural practices driven by short-term profit led to long-term soil erosion and depletion. The latter created poverty, inducing emigrations, which led to civil strife, war, and gradual collapse. So this book does live up to its subtitle, it is a history of human civilization as told from the viewpoint of soil erosion.

As a work of nonfiction, its contents apply well to history, economics, geology, ecology, and anthropology, along with agriculture. As a commentary, it is quite objective and its points are well-conveyed. As reading material; it flows quite nicely and the chapters are easy to digest. A great book overall.

Policy makers at all levels as well as concerned citizens should take Dave's lessons to heart. In addition, this is THE book for the layman wondering anything about dirt's role in human history and its fate.

With unrelenting precision, Dave builds the case-by-case history of civilizations misusing the dirt to their ultimate misfortune. As a top-flight scientist and admirable philosopher, he lays bare the storyline of people first using dirt modestly, then disturbing and losing their topsoil in dozens of cases spanning the globe and ranging from pre-history to the present.

The progression of dirt degradation becomes very familiar by the end - one wonders how many more times and on what grand scale the failures will again become apparent.

A caveat - Dave is a colleague of mine, as well as an entertaining pop-folk guitar, who leads with guitar and vocals the local band "Big Dirt".

I liked it.

I have to agree with the other reviewers that the author repeated himself, showing example after example with the same theme. I'd almost wish he'd summarized more of that part, and expanded more on the soil science in the early chapters - wading through that dense explanation took concentration. I felt more educated on the topic of soil abuse at the end, but really didn't have any handle on What Could Be Done to Fix The Issue. Probably because no one else does either.

I read this shortly after a couple of Micheal Pollan's earlier books, and would recommend the pairing (Omnivore's Dilema and Botany of Desire) for a more holistic view.

This should be essential reading for any resource planner, all levels of elected policy makers and anyone that has read Jared Diamond, i. e. Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed

I'm probably more fascinated by the subject of soil in relation to civilization and society than most people are. That said, this is one of the most interesting, absorbing, well researched books that I've ever read. Professor Montgomery's book should be read by every high school and college student that is interested in a little known, but pertinent reason why civilizations fail...remember the Cedars of Lebanon? That area of Lebanon is desert now, why, because they cut down all the trees to build ships and the soil eroded...simple. Professor Montgomery makes a point that whenever economists are in charge of a society it goes downhill as they recommend unsustainable practices...and give numerous examples. In a perfect world this book would sell as many copies as a Harry Potter adventure does...however as the book points out, the world isn't perfect...but, in my opinion, this book is!

Read this book. It will change the way that you relate to civilization as we know it. David Montgomery has put together an emensly interesting, highly readable factual tale of the doom wrought when humans take dirt for granted.

I was raised on a dairy farm in Maryland and, while it has been almost 50 years since I last lived on a farm, I still feel a kinship for farm life. I have tried to keep abreast of farm practices and the latest technology in cultivation. I learned about this book from an article in Mother Earth News and felt that I should read it. What an eye opener! While this book covers the same information as an earlier book published back in the fifties, after about halfway through the two books diverge greatly in their coverage but still have the same message. What many farmers have done to the topsoil in this country and most other places in the World is frightening. I use to believe the pioneers who moved west in the early days of our Nation were heroes braving the rigors and hazards of a savage frontier. True it was an untamed land but they are no longer heroes but rather savages themselves and "land rapists". The real reason they moved west was because they destroyed the fertility of the soil along the eastern seaboard so that they couldn't grow enough food to survive. Due to their own greedy misuse of the land, they were forced to move west or starve. If they had only had the foresight to protect the topsoil in the beginning most of their agricultural problems wouldn't have happened in the first place. A great book that everyone should have to read because the collapse of the housing market and wall street, high oil prices and global warming will seem like small problems if we don't protect the topsoil that is the source of our food stocks.

Without soil the whole of humanity would perish. Everything on which life depends come from soil. This book is a wakeup call. Basic greed seems to put blinkers on humanity to not learn from past civilizations who have wasted soil-let it erode away -and also pushed themselves into oblivian.
Are we going to do the same to ourselves? A few years of drought or floods in these times of eratic weather will leave our supermarket shelves empty. Sadly we already have poor quality foods in supermarkets because of less than well-cared for soils.
Soil is so basic to life that it should be taught in Basic Life Skills courses in schools. Everyone should have an understanding of soil.
Bravo Mr. Montgomery for your very extensive research and sharing it with us.

as an anthro/archaeology major (albeit years ago), history buff, lover of geology/mother earth and tree whisperer, words fail me to adequately express the impact this small book had on me and a small cohort of friends. it is far more than a wakeup call; it is a call to learn from our collective past and take responsibility for our actions so as to safeguard the future of our children and generations to come.

read it; recommend it; give it as a present; make a plan and take action

if not now, when? if not us, who?