Three Tigers, One Mountain

A Journey Through the Bitter History and Current Conflicts of China, Korea, and Japan

By: Michael Booth

Narrated by: Julian Elfer

Length: 10 hrs and 44 mins

Publisher's summary

There is an ancient Chinese proverb that states, "Two tigers cannot share the same mountain." However, in East Asia, there are three tigers on that mountain: China, Japan, and Korea, and they have a long history of turmoil and tension with each other.

In his latest entertaining and thought-provoking narrative travelogue, Michael Booth sets out to discover how deep, really, the enmity is between these three "tiger" nations and what prevents them from making peace. Currently, China's economic power continues to grow, Japan is becoming more militaristic, and Korea struggles to reconcile its Westernized South with the dictatorial Communist North.

Booth, long fascinated with the region, travels by car, ferry, train, and foot, experiencing the people and culture of these nations up close. No matter where he goes, the burden of history and the memory of past atrocities continue to overshadow present relationships. Ultimately, Booth seeks a way forward for these closely intertwined, neighboring nations.

An enlightening, entertaining and sometimes sobering journey through China, Japan, and Korea, Three Tigers, One Mountain is an intimate and in-depth look at some of the world's most powerful and important countries.

©2020 Michael Booth (P)2020 Tantor

Good book some minor inaccuracies

Intresting history done in a way that is pretty unique. The author did make some minor mistakes with regards to the Korean peninsula, but overall I liked it.

Entertaining observations of the Tigers

Very entertaining reading. I’ve personally experienced many of the subtle differences between the people from three countries too. However, his digging deep into the history and particularly the museums was fascinating. Of course, we can’t stereotype any of the cultures, but history does provide a unique perspective.

The only challenge I had was the British pronunciation of some of the Asian words.

Not much new here if you are already familiar

More or less this book seems like an excuse for the author's publisher to fund a trip around Asia. Part basic history, part observational travel, The author points out some of the basic historical conflicts between these nations, cites basic demographic data, and travels. (Spoiler alert- he likes Japan which he is already familiar, and doesn't seem to enjoy Korea or China) Not much here if you are already familiar with these historical issues or have traveled to Asia yourself. However, I did very much enjoy the narrator!

Informative and Easy Listen

Light, informative, and easy introduction to geopolitical relationships and their cultural context in the Far East.

Not what I expected but also not bad

As other reviews have said it reads at times more like a travel book, some people harshly saying the writer just wanted to do a large vacation while getting paid. I don't think that's accurate. I was wanting an in depth book about the history of all the countries, but I didn't dislike the book as it is. It focuses on certain cities and regions from each nation Japan, Korea, China, Taiwan. It is in large part about modern history of the regions. I would say I was most surprised by Taiwan, Japan's nuclear bomb program, and the comfort women. I think if you like one or all of the countries in the book you'll probably generally like the book even though it's not a 'all encompassing history explaining thousands of years of politics'.

Funny, informative

I learned a lot in an easy and fun way. The way how it is written inspires further reading
Thank you

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Informative examination of complex relationships

This book was quite enlightening on a number of fronts. The author does have a greater familiarity with Japan than the other regions visited. And it should be noted, the trek is more specific than the subtitle indicates, as distinct differentiated interest is given to both Koreas, mainland China, as well as Hong Kong and Taiwan, as well as regions of Japan.

I would disagree that this leads to a biased account, though. At the center of this story is, of course, the exploits of post-Meiji imperial Japan. And those aggressions are not glossed over in any way, shape or form. Fair time is given to all involved, and, frankly, the hardcore apologists are not favorably received by the author. In any case, he does give a well-rounded account of the history of the region, and core causes for its conflicts. Though his conclusions are not thoroughly convincing, he does give food for thought.

The only negative to be found in the book (as I recognized that the author had written another book I had purchased), is that he is really not very good as a humorist. Sticking the facts, he's fine. An occasional quip at the expense of a particularly absurd partisan, ahh okay. But when he lays out set jokes, it verges on cringeworthy. Thankfully, they are few and far between.

Biased Journalist

Please understand this book is not written by a historian. It is written by a journalist who’s bias and priorities in humor are more important than the subject matter. The bias for Japan and dislike for South Korea and China are so apparent it is cringy when he travels to South Korea. At the end of the book you think he might redeem himself, except he ends on a note where he has something to say only to China and South Korea. Nothing to Japan. However much he may have criticized all three nations, it was very clear (made even more clear by the way he decided to end the book) that his point was to “fix” South Korea’s and China’s view of Japan. Instead of being educational and objective, it was a book written by a journalist who loves to tell you his opinion even though you came here to learn about the conflict between the nations, not about how they shouldn’t hate Japan. As far as a historical or educational book, this man is not a historian. You learn about events which is good, but I almost couldn’t make it through. The first section in Japan felt more fair, but when he travelled to Korea you could very clearly tell the journalist was not someone you should listen to. Criticizing a nation on its plastic surgery and beauty standards, but then going to go get plastic surgery himself really rubbed me the wrong way. This book is not worth the time.

Interesting concept, disappointing execution

I liked the narrator, but the story really shifted gears after the first quarter. While putting these relationships in the context of a travel excursion is a novel idea, the implementation devolved into stereotypes and anecdotes, removing much of the historical context that was present at the beginning of the book