Acknowledgments; 1. Introduction; 2. Temporal Variations in the Asian Monsoon; 3. Monsoon and Societies in Southwest Asia; 4. Origins of a Uniquely Adaptive Farming System: Rice Farming Systems in Monsoon Asia; 5. Dryland Farming in the Northern Monsoon Frontier; 6. Recent Changes in Monsoon Climate; 7. Future Monsoon Predictions; References; Index.