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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