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4.6 out of 5

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Francois van Wyk

Quick and easy, bang for your buck.

Reviewed in the United States on November 29, 2019

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I own, and love, "A History of Korea: From Antiquity to the Present". It is a daunting and expensive book to be sure. I attempted to read it twice and still only managed to get to about 75% before giving up. The constant stream of dates and names that are difficult to remember for a non-Korean is overwhelming. That is why I jumped at the chance to get a more condensed version of the same story by the same writer. In effect, this is a way for me to finish the first book that I have not touched for more than a year.

The shorter book for which this review is written leaves out a lot of detail when compared to its bigger brother, but that is to be expected. I feel that it manages to give a good overview of Korean history though, and it creates a nice framework to build your future reading on.

For someone who sees themselves living in Korea for more than two years, this is a must-read. Not only will it give you essential information and background to the country whose people you will interact with on a daily basis, but your efforts to learn will surely score you some brownly points.

The only real problem I have with the book is the editing/proofreading. The book is in need of some careful reading. I am by no means a good writer, and I'm liable to make more mistakes in a single sentence than there are words in that sentence, but even I was picking up problems all over the place. I'm sure these mistakes will be corrected in the digital edition soon enough, but I feel sorry for those who bought the first print run.

Do not let that distract you from reading the book though. It’s easy to read, well priced and chock full of information that anyone interested in history will love.

Ren

Brief but Concise

Reviewed in the United States on December 28, 2022

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About a third of the way through it and enjoying. It’s detailed but not overdrawn out and easy to read. I’m preparing for a brief trip to Korea and wanted to fill in the gaps in my knowledge about the country’s history.

Bella

One of the best books I have ever read.

Reviewed in the United States on October 8, 2022

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This book is so good I could not let it go.
It gave me so much information about my own birth country in one book.
The author condensed so much important and relevant information very well. It is well-organized and easy to follow.

Joel Hammer

Excellent account

Reviewed in the United States on May 21, 2022

Verified Purchase

A relatively short but complete account of the history of Korea.
One reviewer said it was slanted to NK with obvious bias. That reviewer obviously did not read this book.

Tero

Good level of detail, not too dense but enough of examples to grasp this story

Reviewed in the United States on April 12, 2022

I already had Seth's Korea, A Very Short Introduction (Oxford Press) so I knew how he writes. Found this in a used book store and brought home to read. It was immediately much more engaging than Eugene Park's "Korea, A History." I had read certain chapters of that but it then ended on the shelf as a reference book. Michael Seth's book was an easy read. I don't mind the typos. I did not fall asleep.

P. Ferdinand

Full of typos

Reviewed in the United States on July 29, 2021

Tuttle is supposedly a professional publishing house. Yet the editing in this book is among the worst I've ever encountered outside of self-published books. Tuttle has done both themselves and the author a disservice in publishing the book in this state. There is a typo on at least every other page, including image captions. Many of these are clearly remnants of a previous draft that didn't get removed. ("...the Korean countryside was been dotted with rice paddies...") Others are just words missing entirely. ("They are the oldest known printed materials in world.")

These aren't difficult typos to find. I've found them all by simply reading the text. So apparently, whoever edited this didn't even do that. Such sloppiness not only undermines the reputation of Tuttle, but calls into question the reliability of the "facts" presented in the book. If attention couldn't be paid to something as simple as typos, how much attention was paid to the even bigger task of fact verification?

Ali

Great book. Bad grammar.

Reviewed in the United States on October 13, 2020

This book is truly an amazing read, however, there is a HUGE number of grammar mistakes. I would not let the grammar mistakes deter you from reading it, but they pop up so frequently that they do become quite annoying. The grammar mistakes range from words being spelt wrong, bad punctuation, double words, and sentences not being properly put together. Again, I really love this book, but I hope by leaving this here someone can edit the book and release a revised version. :)

Robert

Many typos and clear bias

Reviewed in the United States on January 25, 2021

You can't read more than two pages without coming across a significant typo. The book also takes a clear anti-American, pro-NK bias. Not a scholarly work.

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Amazon Customer

Family Power and Corruption Dominate

Reviewed in Australia on May 6, 2023

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The History of Korea provides a critical perspective on what makes Korean politics tick even in today's North and South. In both, hierarchical families almost monarchies have been dominant and continue to be so whether under a Communist or Democratic Banner. The opportunities for corruption have been rife for over 900 years, and continue to be so. In the absence of massive structural changes (driven from outside) the chances for a reunified Korea appear impossible. The dominant family mindset, whether the Dictatorship of the Kim's of the North or the industrialist's of the South (eg., the Republic of Samsung) offer a recipe for disaster.

Tuone Udaina

Interesante pero se centra demasiado en el siglo XX

Reviewed in Spain on May 29, 2020

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Se trata de un libro que cubre toda la historia de la península coreana desde la prehistoria hasta la actualidad. A pesar de que el nombre de la obra ya avisa de que se trata de una breve historia de Corea, tengo la impresión de que dicha brevedad se ha aplicado con más severidad a algunos periodos en detrimento de otros. De este modo, la era de los tres reinos, la de Goryeo y la época Joseon, que abarcan entre las tres más de un milenio se explican, a mi parecer, de manera demasiado resumida y genérica. Por el contrario, solo al siglo XX se le dedica la mitad del libro. Entiendo que el tema de la ocupación japonesa, la guerra de Corea y la partición del país son los periodos históricos que puedan interesar al gran público, pero considero que ya hay mucha bibliografía anterior dedicada a ello, por lo que no habría estado de más que el autor hubiera tratado todos los periodos de manera más equitativa.

IRENEO RODRIGUEZ

Al punto y al gusto con la Peninsula del Conejo.

Reviewed in Mexico on July 29, 2020

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El nombre lo dice "Breve historia de Corea" corto, claro y al punto, muchos diran que salta varios eventos y si, solo que cubre más de lo que omite porque despues de todo es el aperitivo de una vasta comida... recomendable para quien quiera darse un "norte" del tema "en caldo de res".

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