- Hardcover: 552 pages
- Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield (Nov 16 2010)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 074256715X
- ISBN-13: 978-0742567153
- Product Dimensions: 22.9 x 15.7 x 4.8 cm
- Shipping Weight: 930 g
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,173,558 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
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Product Details |
Product Description
Review
Michael Seth somehow manages to pack an enormous amount of information into his short overview of the Korean peninsula's long history. With a useful glossary and a helpful bibliography, A History of Korea is especially recommended for those without any prior knowledge of Korean history and culture. (Lie, John )
Product Description
In this comprehensive yet compact book, Michael J. Seth surveys Korean history from Neolithic times to the present. He explores the origins and development of Korean society, politics, and its still little-known cultural heritage from their inception to the two Korean states of today. Telling the remarkable story of the origins and evolution of a society that borrowed and adopted from abroad, Seth describes how various tribal peoples in the peninsula came together to form one of the world's most distinctive communities. He shows how this ancient, culturally and ethnically homogeneous society was wrenched into the world of late-nineteenth-century imperialism, fell victim to Japanese expansionism, and then became arbitrarily divided into two opposed halves, North and South, after World War II. Tracing the past seven decades, the book explains how the two Koreas, with their deeply different political and social systems and geopolitical orientations, evolved into sharply contrasting societies. South Korea, after an unpromising start, became one of the few postcolonial developing states to enter the ranks of the first world, with a globally competitive economy, a democratic political system, and a cosmopolitan and dynamic culture. North Korea, by contrast, became one of the world's most totalitarian and isolated societies, a nuclear power with an impoverished and famine-stricken population. Seth describes and analyzes the radically different and historically unprecedented trajectories of the two Koreas, formerly one tight-knit society. Throughout, he adds a rich dimension by placing Korean history into broader global perspective and by including primary readings from each era. All readers looking for a balanced, knowledgeable history will be richly rewarded with this clear and concise book.
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4.0 out of 5 stars (1 customer review)
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Korean History 101..., April 4 2012
By dwood78 - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: A History of Korea: From Antiquity to the Present (Paperback)
Korean pop culture (TV dramas & K-pop) has recently gathered popularity outside of the Korean peninsula. Yet few people know of the vast history of the people who live there which goes back 2 millennium in terms of recorded history.This book, written by an associate professor of East Asian at James Madison University gives a very in-depth look into Korean history. From the Neolithic period, to The Three Kingdoms Era with the rise of Baekje, Silla & Goguryeo, the latter's name was inherited by the Goryeo Dynasty who would unite the Later Three Kingdoms (Silla, Baekje & Hugoguryeo or Later Goguryeo under one rule & where the English word "Korea" originates. This early history I found to be very interesting, though the book spends less than 80 pages on this time period.
The 2nd part of the book covers the Joseon Dynasty, successor to Goryeo which ruled the peninsula until 1897. There's a lot more info on the lives of not only the rulers during this period but on Korean society as a hole. It was during this period that the Korean alphabet (Hangul) emerged, prior to which Koreans used Hanja (Chinese characters) for documentation. The book also goes into the 35 year period in which Korea was a colony of Japan & how it got slit into 2 countries-mainly to keep the Soviets, which had invaded the land following its declaration of war against Japan near the end of WW II from occupying the whole peninsula, as well as the different paths they took-the North becoming an isolated family ruled dictatorship while the South, which was under military rule & martial law became a true democracy & major economic power house that it is today.
Though it's over 550 pages, this is a page turner filled with valuable info & is well researched. Look no farther if you're looking for a book on Korean history.
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