The World Beneath Our Feet
On sale
27th August 2026
Price: £25
‘Thrilling and delightful’ – George Monbiot
‘Vital, brilliant, wholly absorbing… A masterpiece of science writing’ – Isabella tree
To appreciate the wonders of the world around us, we’re often told to look up. But what if we need to look down instead?
Everything that happens below ground sustains all life above it – yet we rarely think about this mysterious, dark underland. In The World Beneath Our Feet soil ecologist Frank Ashwood scratches the surface and takes us on an eye-opening safari through this precious ecosystem, from the ancient forests of New Zealand to the vast black soil deposits of the US and China. Every layer of the pedosphere is a world of its own, each more alien than the last as we travel deeper into the Earth.
The ground beneath our feet hums with a staggering abundance of winding roots, interconnecting fungal networks, wriggling creatures and mind-blowing microbial life. This hidden ecosystem is the single most biodiverse habitat on the planet. Half of all our species exist underfoot, and just a handful of soil can contain an entire world. Without soil, there would be no life as we know it.
In a story of connection and communication, we meet pioneering plants and minute animals that are essential to the health and wellbeing of our planet. We learn how soil makes our very existence possible, allowing us to cultivate crops as well as storing precious carbon and the water we need to survive. We marvel at soil as the Earth’s fertiliser and one of the building blocks of evolution, transforming decaying matter into the birthplace of new life.
The World Beneath Our Feet opens our eyes to the hidden, wondrous world of soil and invites us all to play a part in protecting it for future generations.
‘Vital, brilliant, wholly absorbing… A masterpiece of science writing’ – Isabella tree
To appreciate the wonders of the world around us, we’re often told to look up. But what if we need to look down instead?
Everything that happens below ground sustains all life above it – yet we rarely think about this mysterious, dark underland. In The World Beneath Our Feet soil ecologist Frank Ashwood scratches the surface and takes us on an eye-opening safari through this precious ecosystem, from the ancient forests of New Zealand to the vast black soil deposits of the US and China. Every layer of the pedosphere is a world of its own, each more alien than the last as we travel deeper into the Earth.
The ground beneath our feet hums with a staggering abundance of winding roots, interconnecting fungal networks, wriggling creatures and mind-blowing microbial life. This hidden ecosystem is the single most biodiverse habitat on the planet. Half of all our species exist underfoot, and just a handful of soil can contain an entire world. Without soil, there would be no life as we know it.
In a story of connection and communication, we meet pioneering plants and minute animals that are essential to the health and wellbeing of our planet. We learn how soil makes our very existence possible, allowing us to cultivate crops as well as storing precious carbon and the water we need to survive. We marvel at soil as the Earth’s fertiliser and one of the building blocks of evolution, transforming decaying matter into the birthplace of new life.
The World Beneath Our Feet opens our eyes to the hidden, wondrous world of soil and invites us all to play a part in protecting it for future generations.
Reviews
This is a thrilling and delightful book. It opens a treasure chest of fascinating insights into our most neglected ecosystem.
If there's one thing we're going to need in the future, it's healthy soil. Terrestrial life depends on it. We find ourselves at a critical juncture in our history and what we do now will determine our survival. I sincerely hope we heed the message of this significant book. Quite simply magnificent.
This book has massive, understated charm. I used merely to like earthworms. Now I truly admire them. Ashwood has made soil science enchanting.
'Vital, brilliant, wholly absorbing - this rich weave of soil science and stories that connect us with the tiny creatures we rarely see is as diverse and finely tuned as the life of the soil itself. A masterpiece of science writing and a subject that is the most important of all to our own survival.' - Isabella Tree
Exhilarating, revelatory and written with a delight that is as infectious as it is irresistible, The World Beneath Our Feet is a joy.
"A glimpse into an astonishing world that is often as out of mind as it is out of sight... His engaging writing style and expert insights take readers on a journey down into these dark, complicated habitats, through this surprising, spellbinding story of soil." - Jack Ashby, author of Nature's Memory: Behind the Scenes at the World's Natural History Museums
A fascinating journey into the hidden life of soil and its vital importance for people and the planet. Engaging and full of surprises, it will transform the way you see the ground beneath your feet. A must read for anyone interested in the natural world.
This book is full of warmth and wonder for the lives of the many species living beneath our feet, delivering the science in a clear and accessible fashion. A lively, thought-provoking celebration of nature and a powerful argument for conserving it.
In this illuminating exploration, ecologist and debut author Ashwood escorts readers beneath the surface of the natural world to reveal the astonishing complexity and importance of soil ecosystems...He combines accessible science writing with a palpable sense of wonder, enlivening discussions of nutrient cycling, carbon storage, and biodiversity with memorable examples...This transforms an often-overlooked ecosystem into a source of awe and urgent concern.
Beneath our feet lies a hidden world where the timeless dramas of life unfold predators hunt, prey flee, rivals compete, and organisms thrive through cooperation. In The World Beneath Our Feet, Frank Ashwood masterfully unveils this often-overlooked realm, showing how the physical, chemical, and biological complexity of soil sustains both these miniature worlds and the plant life upon which all terrestrial ecosystems depend.
Soil could not have a better ambassador than Frank Ashwood. His infectious delight and love for the tiny denizens of the earth shines through, making earthworms glisten, beetles shine, and springtails leap off the page. This book will make you place your feet with care, mindful for the first time of the beautiful world beneath.
A travelogue to a land of mystery and wonder, which just so happens to be hiding in plain view, right beneath our feet. Frank Ashwood is your guide to what happens below us, deep down in the soil, where roots and bugs and bacteria lay the foundation for the surface world, and the interconnectedness of our entire planet.
Ashwood reveals a startling world that lies beneath our feet. It transformed my understanding of soil and land. This is an underground journey in which the reader encounters the otherworldly species that form the basis of all terrestrial life. It is a startling world populated by astonishing life forms, implausibly designed creatures that are bizarre at first blush, but who turn out to be angels of fertility, the genesis of food, water, and forests. I now officially live on a planet I hardly knew existed. An extraordinary outcome from a single book.
With a perfect blend of wisdom, warmth, and wonder, Ashwood champions the hidden biodiversity living underground.The World Beneath our Feet is an eye-opening primer on an extraordinary and little-known realm, one that just happens to be essential to all of us living above it.
Revelatory. Astonishing and full of delight. This book will change forever the way you see the ground beneath your feet... Ashwood has written the definitive field guide to the world of soil and in doing so, shows just how dazzling and important this hidden world is to our survival... This is nature writing at its best and a book for our time.
Ashwood has given a voice to one of Earth's greatest unseen worlds. Rich with wonder, scientific insight and beautifully told stories, The World Beneath Our Feet shows us that the future of life above ground depends on how well we understand and care for the life below it. An absolute page-turner.