Riveting book. I never thought dirt could be so interesting! Soil provides for us and yet we really don't think that much about it all. The author did a thorough job of researching his theme. I liked reading about the Appalachian area and fracking; it had many valid points. I love the Appalachians, but too many industries are destroying the area and nothing is being done for the plight of it's people. sad. farmed and Wild was sad, too, but well worth reading. Good solid, well written book. Kudos to the author!

This was a riveting book about what we are doing to the land. It goes from cities like New York--talking about the amount of concrete it holds--and London--where centuries of archeological treasure lie beneath the streets--to studying the effect of farming practices, and fracking. The book is divided into concise chapters, each painting a comprehensive picture of what the author encountered in his research and visits. As I turned the last page I realized how many more books were added to my TBR because of this read and how I will gladly go down the reading rabbit hole opened up by the author.

The Ground Beneath Us by Paul Bogard is literally about the ground or dirt. The book is divided into three main sections with different chapters within each. Mr. Bogard travels to different areas and discusses the ground in each. I did like the book although toward the end the book lost much of its momentum. The book should be read more for enjoyment than scientific information.

Good start but then lags
The first few chapters of this book were exactly what I expected from the book; great stories about the ground and what’s in it and under it. However after that, the content detoured and the book became about ecology, climate change and loss of soil. but in a way that I felt like I was being scolded for living in a city. I also found some of the science as presented weak, that is with few citations or descriptions of experiments. It appeared to me that the book had no real theme, but was rather just a collection of thoughts. It reminds me of Simon Winchester’s “Atlantic” where the book was about his thoughts and not actually about the Atlantic Ocean.

The ground is not very deep

Paul Bogard is an old fashioned romantic. Everywhere he goes, he likes to take off his shoes to feel the ground. He feels with his feet. And as he travels widely, his feet are quite experienced. He could have called the book If These Feet Could Talk and it would have been accurate.

The Ground Beneath Us is a travelogue, very, very loosely connected by what he put his feet on. Bogard roamed from Manhattan to Treblinka, from Gettysburg to Alaska, from Mexico to London. And at some point he usually refers to the ground, from the softness of the tundra to the sterility of the concrete, and everything in between.

There are odd, headscratchable side trips into what different religions and cultures quantify as sin and hell. And there are brief discourses on the effects of fracking, global warming and drought. But it’s all very superficial and on to the next venue.

There is no progression or flow. It does not build to a point. The chapters could be standalone essays. If there is a lesson, it might be that you should walk barefoot more. Or appreciate nature more. Or appreciate history more. Hard to tell. But none of it is anything new or different. None of it is deep or profound. And the additional research is minimal at best. Rather, there is silliness, as a zoo ranger shares his hopes that if we can just get to the other side of the human population bubble, all their work capturing and confining African animals will have succeeded, right? He obviously has not read the Alaska chapter, in which the melting of the permafrost is about to unleash untold multiples of our already record setting CO2 into the air in the form of methane, wiping out countless more species.

Bogard’s romanticism ranges from feeling the hallowed ground at Gettysburg to the profane ground of a Nazi concentration camp. He mourns the covering over of all the human tragic history that has gone before. Concrete keeps us from our reality. For his many fans, this will be another great excursion. For those looking for new insight into anything, not so much.

Is there anywhere left on earth where human beings have not stepped foot? Bogard sets out to find the answer, only to discover that a large portion of our world has been paved over. Not only is this bad for the environment, it has built a divide between us and our natural environment. We have no real idea where our food or water comes from, nor do we seem to care. We blithely continue on, assuming that we will always have what we need, ignoring the increasing evidence of the damage we bring on out planet. Bogard examines how that disconnect with the natural world has affected us and what we can do to save our world before it’s too late. Beautifully written, this is a narrative for all who love the natural world, and even more importantly, for those who don’t.