Inanewaccessiblenarrative,AndreWinkpresentshismajorreinterpretationofthelong-termhistoryofIndiaandtheIndianOceanregionfromtheperspectiveofworldhistoryandgeography.SituatingthehistoryoftheIndianizedterritoriesofSouthAsiaandSoutheastAsiawithinthewiderhistoryoftheIslamicworld,hearguesthatthelong-termdevelopmentandtransformationofIndo-Islamichistoryisbestunderstoodastheoutcomeofamajorshiftintherelationshipbetweenthesedentarypeasantsocietiesoftheriverplains,thenomadsofthegreatSaharasianaridzoneandtheseafaringpopulationsoftheIndianOcean.ThisrevisionistworkredrawstheAsianpastastheoutcomeofthefusionofthesedifferenttypesofsettledandmobilesocieties,placinggeographyandenvironmentatthecentreofhumanhistory.
