Includes bibliographical references and index.

The monsoon and the way it shaped Asia -- Prehistoric Asia -- Asian religions and their cultures -- The traditional societies of Asia -- The civilization of ancient India -- The civilization of ancient China -- Medieval India -- Early and medieval Southeast Asia -- China : a golden age -- Early, classical, and medieval Japan and Korea -- Mughal India and Central Asia -- New imperial splendor in China: the Ming Dynasty -- The West arrives in Asia -- Manchu China and Tokugawa Japan -- The rise of British power in India -- The triumph of imperialism in Asia -- Subjugation, nationalism, and revolution in China and India -- The struggle for Asia, 1920-1945 -- Revival and revolution in Japan and China -- Korea and Southeast Asia in the modern world -- South Asia : independence, political division, and development -- Asia in the twenty-first century.