PRESS
GROWING A REVOLUTION
Mountain View Voice, June, 2017
“...Montgomery combines scientific research with firsthand experience to demonstrate that soil regeneration is possible for farms of any size and in any climate. He outlines principles used by farmers across the world that -- when practiced together -- can restore soil and increase yields from year to year.” Read more...
Library Journal, April, 2017
“This fascinating, accessible, well-researched work will be of interest to all who are concerned with feeding the world’s burgeoning population while protecting the soil, and ultimately, the environment.”
Kirkus Reviews, February, 2017
"An optimistic look at how regenerative farming can revive the world’s soil, increasing food production, boosting cost effectiveness, and slowing climate change. … Montgomery’s fascinat-
ing exposé of how our food is grown will convince readers that soil health should not remain an under-the-radar issue and that we all benefit from embracing a new philosophy of farming." Read more...
WEB
The Daily Yonder, May, 2017
“A global study of land and agricultural methods shows dramatic differences in soil quality between farms that employ some simple management tools and those that don’t. “Clever farmers” show how we can make healthier, more productive soil.” Read more...
PRAISE
“Montgomery has written another classic. Growing A Revolution is one of the most important books ever written — an engaging and revealing service to human society and our planet.”
— Amir Kassam, Professor of Agriculture, Policy and Development, University of Reading, UK
“Growing a Revolution presents a clear-eyed examination of a solution to the challenges we face in feeding the world. A joy to read with the bounce and flow of a great biography. I couldn’t recommend it more.”
— Jerry Harrison, keyboardist & guitarist, Talking Heads
“This is a Sand County Almanac of agriculture, a Walden Pond of loam and tilth, a paradigm-bending journey into the principles that guide the life beneath our feet and thus the life that nourishes us.”
— Paul Hawken, author of The Ecology of Commerce and Natural Capitalism
THE HIDDEN HALF OF NATURE
Amer. Society of Microbiology - Microbe Magazine, June 2016
"This book illustrates not only how important microbes are to human well-being but also how scientific understanding can transform the perception of our relationship to Earth and life...engaging, accessible..." Read more...
The American Gardener, Sept/Oct., 2016
"Our bodies and the soil may seem like disparate entities, yet the authors draw many fascinating parallels." Read more...
UK Observer/Guardian, Nov. 29, 2015
"Juicy is the best word to describe Anne Biklé and David Montgomery’s garden...It is this oasis that led them on a remarkable journey into another world, one that exists beneath our feet..." Read more...
The Irish Times, January 26, 2016
"To put it simply – we are no longer eating for us...The who we are eating for, and the what they do with what we eat, are the invisible world of bacteria...” Read more...
Seattle Times, Nov. 15, 2015
"Montgomery and Biklé are excellent guides....The Hidden Half of Nature” offers a wonderfully fresh and exquisitely informed approach that could change how we relate to our selves, our diets, our gardens and our world...Their history of medicine and disease is revelatory..." Read more...
Mother Jones magazine, Nov. 13, 2015
"In this transformative read...[the authors] unravel the universe of microbes that make dirt fertile and allow us to digest food...Both the lining of our colons and the ground beneath our feet...are 'biological bazaars where plants and people trade nutritional wares and form alliances..." Read more...
WEB
The Land Stewardship Newsletter, No. 1, page 28, 2017
“a comprehensive look at the life of our “inner and outer” soil—the countless microbes and other bits of hidden life that we know so little about, but which impact everything from how our food is grown to our ability to live healthy lives.” Read more...
Sunset Magazine, Westphoria, Nov. 30, 2015
"[C]ould the soil be repaired in less than geologic time?...they’ve given us one of the year’s best books on gardens and health..." Read more...
Oregonlive/The Oregonian, Aug. 9, 2015
"I was immediately drawn [to] this book so much that I read it months before its November release...The implications for the health of our planet and the health of human beings are powerfully stated." Read more...
RADIO
BYU Radio, "Microbial Life", January, 27, 2017
Top of Mind with Host Julie Rose, "Our guests this hour say our war on microbes over the last century has really undercut some of the foundations of life." Listen Here
KEXP, "Mind Over Matters", January, 9, 2016
Host Mike McCormick, What is a microbiome anyway? Listen Here
Alaska Public Radio, December 18th, 2015
"...we are discovering a new appreciation of the health benefits provided by much more abundant non-pathogenic microbes that evolved with us..." Listen Here
Wisconsin Public Radio, "The Joy Cardin Show", November 18, 2015
"...According to a pair of husband-and-wife scientists, microbes have the power to revolutionize agriculture, and our personal health also. They’ll show us how." Listen Here (scroll down to the 6am show on 11-18-2015)
PRAISE
"Beautifully written and engaging, The Hidden Half of Nature shows us the underlying principle of all life on earth—the microbes that live in, on, and around us. Montgomery and Biklé connect the strands with ease and consummate skill."
—Martin Blaser MD, author of Missing Microbes
"What an ingenious idea!...a must-read [for] cooks, gardeners, and anyone concerned with their own health and the health of the planet."
—Amy Stewart, author of The Drunken Botanist and Flower Confidential
"The Hidden Half of Nature reads like a fast-paced novel but tells the true story of the delicate balance that drives the workings of soils, climate, even our own bodies."
—Neil Shubin, author of Your Inner Fish and The Universe Within
DIRT
Publishers Weekly, February, 2007
“Argues persuasively that soil is humanity’s most essential natural resource and essentially linked to modern civilizations’ survival. . . . Makes a convincing case for the need to respect and conserve the world’s limited supply of soil.” Read more.
New Scientist, April, 2007
"A compelling study on soil: why we need it, how we have used and abused it, how we can protect it, and what happens when we let it slip through our fingers." Read more.
PRAISE
"A brilliant and essential book."
—Roger Swain, science editor of Horticulture magazine
“In our cyber-charged age, it’s easy to forget that all six billion of us stand on the thin skin of the earth. Humanity is agriculture and agriculture is soil...David Montgomery—a competent digger of dirt and an engaging storyteller—shows how a close look at the soil can reveal a surprising amount about who we are and where we are headed.”
—Richard Manning, author of Against the Grain: How Agriculture Has Hijacked Civilization