[The Unsettling of America] continues the exploration of Berry's central themes: agriculture considered historically and in its present state, and marriage and domesticity. Much of what he says is in response to the question he posed in a poem in Farming: A Handbook …: "What must a man do to be at home in the world?" He must, this latest book suggests, discover personal solutions for what are identified as the three crises we face: of character, agriculture and culture. All three are the result, Berry claims, of "the abstract values of an industrial economy preying upon the native productivity of the land and its people."…

One strength of The Unsettling of America is the compelling case it makes against recent agricultural policy and its treatment of related issues like the negative effects of the land-grant colleges and schools of agriculture on American farming. Berry identifies "specialization" and "expertise...