New History of Korea (Hardcover)

~ Ki Baik Lee (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

Wagner must be lauded for bringing to the English reading community this comprehensive, precisely translated, well-crafted, and meticulously indexed work on Korean history, a translation that will undoubtedly remain for years as the standard overview of Korean history for both Korea specialists and nonspecialists...This project represents a marriage of revision and skillful translation with the ultimate result being the balanced and well-organized volume under review.
--Michael Robinson (Journal of Asian Studies )

Professor Lee's work is exceptionally detailed and covers not only the political, social and economic history of Korea, but integrates developments in the arts, science and technology through the ages. Its wealth of material and comprehensive coverage make it an excellent textbook for the study of Korea. (History )

This is a famous book, and its translation into English has long been awaited...The present elegantly written translation provides the reader, whether expert or amateur, with a good and entertaining introduction to the richness of Korea's historical experience.
--J. E. Hoare (Journal of the Royal Society for Asian Affairs )

Painstaking translation and attentive editing and indexing combine with a consistent and logical system of dividing topics to provide easy access to both the events of Korean history and Professor Lee's thoughtful interpretation. (Asiaweek Literary Review ) --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

Review

To praise the translation is to praise the original. The modern writing of Korean history by Koreans has been beset by difficulties: the restrictions imposed by their traditions, the near-impossibility of writing the history of one's own nation under severe colonial rule, and the passions raised by the still-continuing political division of a homogeneous nation. To have written under these circumstances a history of Korea which can be presented, without significant emendation or apology, to Western readers is no small achievement.
--W. E. Skillend (Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London ) --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Ilchokak Publishers (January 1, 1984)
• ISBN-10: 8933702040
• ISBN-13: 978-8933702048
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,966,721 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent introduction, August 18, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: A New History of Korea (Harvard-Yenching Institute Publications) (Paperback)

This book provides an excellent overview of Korean history. It is neither too skimpy nor too detailed. It also contains a number of useful photographs (black and white) and illustrations (black and white), which helped me read this book through. While many books (either written in English or translated into English) on Korean history deal almost exclusively with Korean War, only a few books are available that describe the history of Korea from its prehistoric beginnings to the modern colonial occupation of Korea by Japan. Although Korea is the most important neighboring country of Japan, the history textbooks used in Japanese schools spare very little space for this topic. I recommend this book to anyone, who is interested in learning Korean history, as a first book to read.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a very comprehensive overview, May 9, 2003

By	Maurice J Lineman (Pusan, Korea) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A New History of Korea (Harvard-Yenching Institute Publications) (Paperback)

I read this book to get an understanding of the history of korea in the greater sense, and also as one of a group of books on Korean history. It is very comprehensive, coverinig gthe range of Korean history from a brief synopsis of the prehistory of Korea, through the major part of ancient Korean history to the bulk of more modern history. I enjoyed this book finding it to be an interesting read, with a lot of details, would make a good history text for a class on korean history, which is exactly what I wanted from this book.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Important omission, March 25, 2007

By	Dr C. R. WRIGHT (Oldham, Lancashire United Kingdom) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: A New History of Korea (Harvard-Yenching Institute Publications) (Paperback)

In the original Korean version of this book, there is a very significant final chapter on elitism in Korean society. This chapter is omitted from the translated versions. That aside, the book offers a wealth of detail and provides what is probably the most comprehensive single-volume overview of Korean history in English. However, the historiography is limited to the listing and description of events. There is little analysis and the reader will, as I had to, read a number of additional and more specialised sources in order to understand why things happened as they did. Professor Yi's book is a good place to start learning about Korean history.