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.

戴维·R. 蒙哥马利（1961— ）

美国华盛顿大学地球与空间科学专业教授。1984年毕业于斯坦福大学地质学专业，1991年在加州大学伯克利分校获得地貌学专业博士学位。主要研究领域为地形演化，以及地貌过程对生态系统和人类社会的影响。曾获得2008年的麦克阿瑟天才奖，并屡次获得华盛顿州图书奖。代表作包括《鱼王》（King of Fish，2003）、《泥土》（Dirt，2007）、《岩石不会说谎》（The Rocks Don’t Lie，2012）、《种植革命》（Growing A Revolution，2017）等。