At the beginning of the new century, Asia remains the most dynamic and unpredictable region in the world. Recent events have highlighted the need for a better understanding of the diverse peoples of the region, their traditions, and their responses to the inter-related changes that together make up what is called globalisation. The first edition of Re Orient: Change in Asian Society was praised for its ability to make sense of those changes-its accurate and succinct analysis of Asian experience advances understanding of our own as well as Asian societies. In this new edition, the discussion is as engaging and stimulating as before, but has been updated to take into account the rapid course of events in Asia since the late 1990s: from the Asian financial crisis to emergence of post-Suharto Indonesia; from India's population reaching one billion to independence in East Timor.