The most recommended agriculture books

With unmatched research and brilliant analytical thought, Nicholas Lambert upends long-accepted explanations of a military disaster—the Gallipoli Campaign—that not only rocked Britain in World War I but reverberates in international relations to this very day. His forensic examination of the British government’s symbiotic political, diplomatic, economic, and military decision-making should be required reading for all students of those disciplines. His approach dismantles accepted histories derived from the political assignment of blame and instead gives the reader an understanding of policy decisions tortured by a wide array of then-pertinent circumstances ranging from the price of a loaf of bread to the power of a Russian Tsar. We can hear the echoes of Lambert’s analysis in today’s cable news reports regarding globalization, disruption to wheat markets, and the political impact of inflation. A timeless work indeed. 

If you only grow from the last frost to the first frost, your gardening season is extremely short. But a few simple season-extension techniques can mean you harvest fresh food nearly every day of the year. I've used Eliot Coleman's crop suggestions and his quick hoops and can say from experience that they make all the difference during the cold season.

If you want a comprehensive reference work on Byzantium, this is much the best, with short articles on every aspect of Byzantine civilization that you can think of and on many aspects that you wouldn’t have thought of. Kazhdan, who emigrated from Russia to America, was the most learned of recent Byzantinists and was interested in almost everything about his chosen field. Although a great many scholars contributed to this dictionary, Kazhdan’s point of view and profound erudition influenced almost every article. 

Anyone interested in Byzantium (and some readers who hadn’t realized that they would be interested) will spend hours looking through these three volumes and will consider those hours well spent.

I first got acquainted with John Seymour through the original version of this book, The Self-Sufficient Gardener. I was charmed by his earthy lore and practical tips – an author who truly knew his stuff. A plus was the beautiful illustrations in the book. Its new permutation, The Self-Sufficient Life and How to Live It was been expanded to cover everything from micro-urban gardens to 5-acre homesteads. While gardening is the focus, the book includes plenty of information on butchering, brewing, canning—even spinning flax. What the book doesn’t include are plans and step-by-step photos for building structures, though it does include rudimentary information on metalworking and carpentry. Most importantly, Seymour has a lifetime of gardening and farming experience to draw upon. The reader reaps the benefit.

If you were ever curious about where your food comes from, the strain and effort and environmental costs associated with it, boy is this the book for you! I learned so, so much from reading this, and I assign chapters to my class every year. It is thoroughly researched, and addresses all the vulnerable points of the current food system—especially in industrial countries. I guarantee you will have a different perspective of where your food comes from after reading this book. It is nothing less than a call to change the current food system if we are to deal with climatic uncertainty.

Wendell Berry writes in multiple forms—poetry, essays, novels—and also practices sustainable farming in rural Kentucky. The World Ending Fire is a compilation of essays spanning over fifty years of his work and displays his wide-ranging intellect and care for the natural world. He emphasizes individual responsibility and stewardship of the earth, but his tone never becomes pedantic or preachy. Instead, his passion and conviction are contagious, and I always feel a sense of gratitude and clarity when I read his words. 

Instead of merely critiquing existing food systems, Will Allen’s Good Food Revolution documents a path forward that he himself created in Milwaukee, WI.

After a career spanning professional basketball and food production, Allen created Growing Power, an urban farm in an impoverished area of Milwaukee focusing on fish and produce. More important, Growing Power helps local youth and addresses the systemic racism that many face.

What I especially love about this book is that Allen shows the power of urban agriculture to change lives. Many denigrate community gardens and similar projects, stating that they can’t feed everyone. True, but they do provide education, community, and opportunities, Allen and Growing Power show food democracy can change a community.

I appreciated how Tanielian so sensitively and expertly described the human tragedy of World War I in the Middle East.

She demonstrates how the Ottoman homefront was affected by wartime politics, disease, and ecological disaster. When you read this book, you will see the importance of the civilian side of living through a global conflict. It really was a lived experience that continues in the memory of those living in the region.

Foodtopia tells us about people and communities who taking control of their own food production.

Throughout US history, many groups have sought alternatives to the dominant food culture, including Thgoreau, the Nearings, and, more recently, millennials. While many of us would like to have food alternatives, it can be difficult to figure out how to do this.

Kelley’s book provides details and descriptions of how these back to the land movements worked against the grain and the choices they made in doing so. These stories and examples help us see that there are alternatives to existing food systems, then and now. 

Livestock eat a lot of corn and soy, and Matthew David Roth shares the detailed history of how industry fueled that rise over only a few decades. I found the primary documents and deep research Roth cites to be illuminating. I write about how monoculture like commodity soy has had devastating impacts on the soil and waterways across the U.S. This book was key to my research because it’s so important to understand how we got here.

When I finished reading this book, I climbed Mount Norwottuck in Amherst, Massachusetts, and looked out over the Pioneer Valley. My perspective was completely transformed. I tried to imagine what this same valley must have looked like five hundred years before—or what a walk through New England’s woods would be without stumbling over an ancient stone wall, a Norway Maple, a field of dandelions, or other remnants of European colonialism.

This book illustrates the impact of early globalization on the earth’s biota, and how nature became implicated in human agendas of conquest. His chapter on syphilis is particularly fascinating to me as a scholar of the English stage, considering how many references Shakespeare and his contemporaries make (erroneously) to the “French” or “Spanish” pox. 

I was hooked from the very first page, when the author reports a brief conversation with a top-of-the-heap oil-man who thought the idea of a philosophical book about food ridiculous. Sitopia asks how the lessons learned from the past might be applied to the way we might live now.

Her first book, Hungry City, is a panoramic sweep of human history from hunter-gatherer cave-dwellers to urban sprawl, bringing an architect's understanding of the development of cities. The first book established the author's reputation as philosopher, cultural historian, and prizewinning food writer.

Booksellers don't know where to put her on the shelves. If Hungry City asks the questions, Sitopia (a made-up word from the Greek for food + place) looks for the answers.

This book is intelligent and brave - and she writes like a dream. 

Farmer and author Wendell Berry is a personal hero of mine. From his home in Kentucky, Berry has been writing about regenerative agriculture for decades. The Art of the Commonplace gathers together twenty of his best essays. They articulate a compelling vision for people dissatisfied with the stress, anxiety, disease, and destructiveness of contemporary life. Berry is also the author of numerous works of poetry and fiction.

Against the Grain is a one-of-a-kind book. Unlike many hagiographies of agriculture gives a more realistic interpretation of how agriculture came to be; the costs associated with its adoption, and the hold it has over all humankind. It gives insight into that cost through an economic and environmental lens. After you read this book, you will look at what is at the end of your fork very, very differently.

Did you know a single pig can be made into one thousand different products? This ethnography explores the ways humans extract profit from hogs, and simultaneously it is a commentary on the effects of industrialization. I thought I knew the problems with factory farming, but clearly I had only a surface understanding. Plus, rather than just dismissing humans as driven by craven or evil intentions, Blanchette is able to express compassion for the humans who are caught up in these systems of animal exploitation.  I learned so much about thinking and writing about animals and humans from reading this book. A flawless ethnography.   

We all eat because we must and often because we enjoy it. 

We all need to pay more attention to what we eat, where words come from, and what happens as we lose some of the diversity of our food.

As we sacrifice diversity, we ALL sacrifice the places and people who preserve ecological and dietary diversity. The author this innumerable endangered foods and food cultures across the planet and encourages us to think about why they’re important

I first read this classic story in my teens and was instantly besotted by Hardy’s farming world and the characters he filled it with. It is still the one I would take with me to my desert island if I was only allowed a single book to keep me company.

And what company I’d be in. Bathsheba Everdene is the ultimate in strong female protagonists and she was carving her path as a farmer in a man’s world long before she inspired me to write about my own feisty heroine, Jude Gray. 

As a student I fell in love with Bathsheba’s steady shepherd, Gabriel Oak, and their pitted, frustrating but ultimately wonderful relationship is still one of the best love stories I’ve lost myself in.

This is the true story of a little-known operation late in WWII. In 1945, 3.4 million civilians in German-occupied Holland were starving, but the war still continued. Organized by the Allies, Operation Chowhound was to use bombers to drop food to help, but how were they to avoid being shot down by Nazi antiaircraft batteries? With the agreement of the German troops not to fire on them. Flying at treetop level, the American aircrews would have had no chance if their B-17s were hit. Yet, over Chowhound's eight days, 120,000 German troops never fired on the American bombers. Grateful Dutch civilians spelled out "Thanks Boys" in the tulip fields below. 

If all you know about Prince Edward Island is that it’s a pretty tourist destination, you will be surprised by this book. The author tells the story of PEI in the 20th century with great flair. Along the way, readers learn about the people, events, and influential forces that shaped Island life over that era. We find out not just about seed potatoes, fox farming, ferry boats, and fixed links, but also about the troubles brought by economic depression, outmigration, and regional disparity. Two world wars also figure into the story. In a nutshell, If You're Stronghearted describes both changes and continuity within the distinctive Canadian province. The book features a wonderful selection of images.  

This ‘wake-up’ call to society about the food crisis already affecting one billion people provides both information and guidance about what needs to be done to avert disaster.

It is also full of important philosophy, such as “There can be no peace until people have enough to eat.” The book goes on to offer important insights into what needs to be done for humanity to live sustainably.

The task is enormous, but there is hope if we wake from our slumbers.