Korean Job Discussion Forums

[marckot]

I am currently looking for a book about Korean history. I have looked around on amazon and there are quite a few books covering the topic.
The books range from ancient history to the Korean war.

Is there a book on the market that is seen as the definitive work on Korean history?

[faster]

No, but for 20th century to the present, Bruce Cumings is considered the reigning anglophone expert. His Korea's Place in the Sun and North Korea are both superb. He's pretty openly on the left, though, if that matters to you.

[just because]

I am reading Cummings book at the moment.....it is a great read but only deals basically with 1860 onwards which is fine but has only about 30 pages of any history beforehand.



This website deals with things just Korean but is aimed at the foreigner so you may geta good idea of what you want here..
http://www.seoulselection.com/

[Otherside]

I've heard alot about that book, and I've been meaning to get my hands on a copy for some time.

As you mentioned, it only begins mid 19th century, do you (or anyone else) know of any other good books which deal with the period prior to that?

[King Baeksu]

[Beej]

[bluelake]

The book I use as a text in my Korean history class here at the university is Korea Old and New: A History by Carter J. Eckert, et al. (Ilchokak Publishers). I've looked at other texts to use, but I find this one is the most academic and detailed, along with being fairly neutral.

[samd]

I recently read Korea Tradition and Transformation: A History of the Korean People, by Andrew Nahm.

It's 20 years old, but gives a good account of Korean history up until the end of the Korean War where I stopped reading.

[marckot]

Thanks a lot for the info. I saw all of the books you mentioned on amazon. It is good to get some reviews from you.

"Korea's place in the sun" seems to be a good buy even though Cumings is a bit of a lefty.

What do you know about the book "A Concise History of Korea: From the Neoulithic Period to the Nineteenth Century" by Micheal J. Seth?

[traxxe]

Two Koreas is a good book about North/South relations.

[endo]

I'm currently reading this book and damn is it ever a page turner!

It primarily focus on the life of Kim Il-sung, but it also gives a fascinating history of North Korea.





Another great book! Not solely a history one, but provides a solid run down along with some interesting insights into Korean culture.

[just because]

[Sainter]

'The Aquariums of Pyongyang' by Pierre Rigoulot and Kang Chol-hwan has a lot of historical info and talks about a guy's life and times in a Korean Gulag and his later escape to South Korea via China.