audiobook Little India: Diaspora; Time; and Ethnolinguistic Belonging in Hindu Mauritius by Patrick Eisenlohr in History

Description

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.