本书包括《大地》、《儿子》、《分家》，三部曲的巨作中，反映了王氏家族三代的生活沉浮。

Pearl S. Buck's epic Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of a China that was -- now in a Contemporary Classics edition. Though more than sixty years have passed since this remarkable novel won the Pulitzer Prize, it has retained its popularity and become one of the great modern classics. "I can only write what I know, and I know nothing but China, having always lived there," wrote Pearl Buck. In The Good Earth she presents a graphic view of a China when the last emperor reigned and the vast political and social upheavals of the twentieth century were but distant rumblings for the ordinary people. This moving, classic story of the honest farmer Wang Lung and his selfless wife O-lan is must reading for those who would fully appreciate the sweeping changes that have occurred in the lives of the Chinese people during this century. Nobel Prize winner Pearl S. Buck traces the whole cycle of life: its terrors, its passions, its ambitions and rewards. Her brilliant novel -- beloved by millions of readers -- is a universal tale of the destiny of man.

《大地》是赛珍珠的代表作。小说叙述的是旧中国的农民王龙从一无所有而成的为一个富户的故事。王龙发迹后，娶了两个姨太太，他的“好”妻子帮他购置并保住地产，他的“坏”妻子则帮他挥霍并卖掉田地。王龙在一场动乱中浑水摸鱼发了财，买了许多土地，并住进了大户财的老宅……他老了，惟一的心愿就是守住家业。他告诫儿子们千万不能卖地，土地就是真正的命根子。