"The contribution of Southeast Asia to the world economy (during the late prehistoric and early historic periods) has not received much attention. It has often been viewed as a region of peripheral entrepôts, especially in the early centuries of the current era. Recent archaeological evidence...

"This book describes the central role that these exotic luxuries - spices, scents and silks - played in the lives of the ancients, traces the development of the great international trade networks that delivered them, and explores how the demand for such luxuries shaped the world."