The History of Korea

by Djun Kil Kim

This revised edition examines North and South Korea's political, socio-economic, and cultural history from the Neolithic period to the early 21st century, including issues of recent political unrest and preparations for the 2018 Winter Olympics.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Asia, Research

312 pages, Hardcover

First published September 5, 2000

Reviews

[Jeffrey Caston · Rating 5 out of 5]

A concise, clearly written history of Korea, but still very rich in detail. It proved invaluable for researching one of my currently developing characters.

[Gretel · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was okay. Kim gives enough information for beginners with important facts. As an overview of Korean history it does a well enough job. Lacks sometimes a bit of details but that is the nature of these type of books. Nonetheless, easy to read.
I think it's a good introduction.

[Matthew · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Korean history book written by a Korean scholar. Finally. A breath of fresh air into the small niche Korean history genre, this finely written text is free from fluff, striking biasedness and needless rhetoric. The author knows his stuff and acknowledges his faults and viewpoint up front preparing the reader for an in depth look into Korean history and how it shapes the present.

This text isn't free from faults, though. It is completely devoid of graphics and illustrations save for a small handful of old kingdom maps. It also scantly covers the modern history; a possible oversight seeing as the series is titled "The modern nations..." Although it doesn't imply a modern history, one can see how a casual reader might pick up the book looking for a modern history only to find medieval and japanese colonization as it's focus point.

All in all, it's a great read and follows a similar flow of Micheal Breen's "the Koreans...". I would recommend this read for anyone looking for a brushup in general or a closer look at the Japanese colonization period.

[AskHistorians]

An overview of the history of the Korean peninsula from the earliest known inhabitants to the start of the 21st century. Clearly written and generally free of bias. A very good comprehensive introduction to the history of the Koreas.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is what comes of watching too many Korean historical dramas ;)

Korea is a shrimp caught between two whales, a saying that makes sense after you read their history. Given that they were often being invaded, controlled or occupied by China or Japan, I can understand why. Conquered by the Han, Tang Chinese, Mongols, Japanese, Americans, Russians, etc. it's not a happy read.

Early Korean history is a bit like Japan's, absorbing much of their culture and religion from China, except that they were much easier to invade without a convenient ocean to intervene. The details are quite a bit different and it's interesting to see how similar social pressures can have different results. Modern Korea suffered from bad government through the 1980s and has now come into its own.

In America, as the author points out, Korea has not garnered as much attention as China or Japan. This book was the only general history compared to the dozen or more of the other countries. Its an interesting read.

[Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice, short intro to Korean history.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

Comprehensive, yet easy to follow. Love the collection of significant people in Korean History feature.

[Southwind · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book. Too short and not concise enough. It is a book written a bit general without deep facts. Leaves the reader with a need to make research on facts.