Unlike other works on Asia, this work does not focus on political and military history but on social history and cultural and economic issues, as well as ethnicity, women’s issues, and current topics such as communications technology and the environment. There are 3,000 entries, a total of two million words in six volumes, and articles ranging 200 to 4000 words. Each article will be signed and will include a bibliography for further reading. There will be illustrations and maps as well as topical and regional outlines, and an extensive index.

For each nation in Asia, there will be numerous articles covering its history, geography, economics, education, religion, government, politics, customs, peoples, communication, technology, literature and the arts, and sports and recreation. We have including the Central Asian republics in our coverage, and the Encyclopedia of Modern Asia will provide an unprecedented range of information on the earth’s largest and most populous continent. The encyclopedia will also include articles on the relationship of Asia with, and its influence on, other parts of the world.

The project is well on the way to completion, with over 80% of the manuscript about to go into copyediting with an experienced team of editors. Many more articles are now being written, and we look forward to finding experts who can cover the topics that remain. Our list of contributors now exceeds 600 individuals from over 50 nations, and we especially welcome contributions from experts in Asia. Contributors will be paid an honorarium for their work and will be credited in the published work.

David Levinson is the project director and he is working closely with the editorial board, an international group of scholars, supervising the development of the Encyclopedia of Asia. David is a cultural anthropologist and have served as editor-in-chief of a number of major reference works, including the 10-volume Encyclopedia of World Cultures (Macmillan) and 4-volume Encyclopedia of Cultural Anthropology (Henry Holt).

Please send a message telling us of your areas of research and interest, along with a paragraph about your position and publications (we do not need a CV at this stage), to me, June Kim, at june@berkshirepublishing.com (or fax +413 528 5241). I will send you a list of relevant articles and discuss assignments with you.

We also have unassigned articles for China, Southeast Asia, Southwest Asia, and Central Asia. So if you have colleagues who might be interested, please direct them to our unassigned headword list: http://www.berkshire-reference.com/005/005login.htm

Best wishes, June Kim