It is a common belief that the ancient Maya disappeared and their population became too large to be supported with the known traditional farming practices. In their new book, The Maya Forest Garden, Ford and Nigh respond to this and many of today’s misconceptions about the Maya civilization. They propose that the Maya balanced elite demands with good resource stewardship. Drawing on ethnography, archaeology, paleoecology, botany, agroforestry, geography, conservation, and more, they ask why is the Maya forest a garden today where all the dominant trees are useful? Presenting years of interdisciplinary research, they show that the milpa cycle of the contemporary Maya fits with the archaeological settlements. Their alternative paradigm links the Maya present to the past and has captivated scholars, permaculturalists, and avocational archaeologists.