Much has been written about the wealth of nations, the history of unequal distribution and zones of affluence and deprivation within and between societies. This book explores why some Asian nations are more prosperous than others through an examination of how their interaction with and utilization of resources has changed over the centuries.

"The stimulating essays in this volume mesh well to give a firm sense of a crucial subject for south, southeast, and East Asian history: the role of nature and natural resources. The authors reach back several centuries to provide perspectives that illuminate both the history of monsoon Asia and the dilemmas of resource management today." - J.R. McNeill, Cinco Hermanos Chair of Environmental and International Affairs Georgetown University"This is a pioneering, exceptionally welcome inquiry into a critical topic, namely, the complex relation between social development and natural resources in Asia during the last thousand years. Although the book focuses on Southeast Asia, its wide theoretical interests and the inclusion of first-rate essays on India, China, and Japan give it a very wide appeal."

• Victor Lieberman, University of Michigan"Highly recommended." - CHOICE

Autorentext
GREG BANKOFF is Associate Professor of History, University of Auckland, New Zealand.

PETER BOOMGAARD is Senior Researcher, KITLV/Royal Netherlands Institute of Southeast Asian and Caribbean Studies, Leiden, The Netherlands.

Inhalt
Introduction: Natural Resources and the Shape of Asian History, 1500-2000; G.Bankoff & P.Boomgaard Natural Resource Management and Mismanagement: Observations from Southeast Asian Agricultural History; D.Henley PART I: RESOURCES AND STATE The Physical Transformation of the Central Thai Region in Pre-Modern Times; B.Terwiel Poor Little Rich Islands: Metals in Bangka-Belitung and West Kalimantan; M.Somers Heidhues Making Places and Making States: Agriculture, Metallurgy, and the Wealth of Nature in South India; K.Morrison PART II: FORESTS AND DEVELOPMENT From Wood to Timber: Changing Perceptions of Philippine Forests, 1565-1900; G.Bankoff Seeing the Timber for the Forest: The Wood in Japanese Capitalism; G.Clancey Burma and the Politics of Teak: Dissecting a Resource Curse; R.Bryant Losing Ground: Development, Natural Resources, and the Dispossession of Malaysia's Orang Asli; R.Aiken PART III: ENVIRONMENTS AND LIVELIHOODS From Riches to Rags?: Rice Production and Trade in Asia, Particularly Indonesia, 1500-1950; P.Boomgaard Instructive and Nourishing Landscapes: Natural Resources, People, and the State in Late Imperial China; F.Bray Demographic Growth, Agricultural Expansion, and Livestock in the Lower Chindwin in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries; M.Charney "Stealing from the Gods:" Fisheries and Local Use of Natural Resources in Vietnam, 1800-2000; J.Kleinen