Storia della Corea moderna e contemporanea

by Michael J. Seth, Laura Bernaschi (translator)

Considerando le traiettorie radicalmente opposte e storicamente senza precedenti delle due Coree, Seth valuta quanto queste possano dimostrarsi utili per comprendere non solo la Corea moderna, ma la prospettiva piú ampia della storia mondiale. Una storia completa ed equilibrata degli ultimi 150 anni della Corea, che esplora le questioni sociali, economiche e politiche che la nazione ha dovuto affrontare da quando alla fine del xix secolo venne catapultata in una dimensione internazionale. Collocando la Corea in un contesto globale, Michael J. Seth descrive come questa antica società, culturalmente ed etnicamente omogenea, sia stata dapprima vittima dell'espansionismo imperialista giapponese, per poi essere arbitrariamente divisa a metà dopo la Seconda guerra mondiale. Seth delinea i percorsi postbellici delle due Coree - diversissime per sistemi politici e sociali e orientamento geopolitico - mentre si evolvevano in società nettamente opposte. La Corea del Sud, dopo un inizio poco promettente, è diventata uno dei pochi stati in via di sviluppo postcoloniale a entrare nelle file del primo mondo, con un'economia globalmente competitiva, un sistema politico democratico e una cultura cosmopolita e dinamica. Al contrario, la Corea del Nord è diventata una delle società piú totalitarie e isolate del mondo, una potenza nucleare con una popolazione impoverita e colpita dalle carestie.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Research

575 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 15, 2009

Reviews

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good standard textbook. Only significant problem is the complete lack of maps and illustrations. That, combined with the condensed writing style, will make this a tough sell to most undergraduate students.

[Narantsogt Baatarkhuu · Rating 4 out of 5]

According to this book, this is how South Korea became the leading economy in the world:

- The Japanese colonization was not as aggressive and deleterious as we thought. If anything, it helped industrialize Korea. The Japanese built a railway that covered the quarter of Korean landmass, and posted Korea as the military supply base during the occupation of Manchuria. Also, there always existed different factions of Koreans that supported different neighbors, including pro-China, pro-Russia, and pro-Japan; the last group was responsible for signing the Annexation Agreement.
- Koreans value education greatly. An apocryphal tale goes that a farmer had to sell his only ox to pay for his child's school tuition. Also, Koreans expatriating to Japan, and the U.S., facilitated by missionaries, started all the way back in 1880s. This led to pockets of educated Koreans forming societies and clubs, enlightening the public through newspaper publications and so on.
- Park Chun Hee is largely attributed to be the lynchpin of the Miracle of the Han River. His most effective decision was to build factories of five modern technologies like petrochemical, electronics, shipbuilding, and so on, near his hometown.

[Fabrizio Lazarde · Rating 5 out of 5]

*4.5 stars rounded to 5.

OOF. If this is concise, I can't even picture the full story.

Despite its daunting detail, this history is a surprisingly fast-paced read. Michael Seth explains complex events with remarkable clarity, ensuring that concepts are understood as Korea's turbulent modern story advances.

While some chapters feature repetitive arguments, which is a minor annoyance, the book succeeds brilliantly as an introduction. It demystifies how a Hermit Kingdom transformed, through war and dictatorship, into the dynamic, divided nation we see today.

It’s a dense but essential foundation for anyone seeking to understand modern Korea.

[Taylor Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

As was the first volume, this one too proves entertaining, thorough, and riddled with grammatical errors. Korea’s is a fascinating history for many reasons, not the least of which is the unique, tense situation that today defines it. The study of Korea is a rich and enlightening one, as relevant for the politically-minded as it is for the historian of East Asia.

[Lyndon Moore · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great book for understanding modern Korea, its relation to Asia, Russia, and the United States, and how the country was eventually split into North and South Korea. If you want to know how Korea became the way that it is, this is a great book.

[Brent · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice review

[Quincy Koetz · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice overview of the history of the Korean Peninsula in the last 120+ years.
Insightful about the societal underpinnings heading into the 20th century.

[Kendra Drischler · Rating 3 out of 5]

This overview of recent Korean history is clear and engagingly written, but the content is undermined by some very poor proofreading.