Synopsis With its vast geographical, disciplinary and temporal spread, Nature and the Orient is one of the most ambitious books in a field which is rapidly growing in relevance and popularity for the specialist as well as the general public. Discussing diverse aspects of the environmental history of South and Southeast Asia, from a variety of perspectives, it brings together leading experts from the fields of history, history of science, archaeology, geography and environmental studies, and covers a timespan from 50,000 B.C. to the present. Spanning a geographical region from Peshawar on the North-West frontier to the Maluku Islands in eastern Indonesia, this book tells the story of the highly complex relationship between people and their environment.