TWIB-III: 43
A day late, thanks to my work schedule. I only read one book last week, but it was a good one.
1) The Two Koreas - Don Oberdorfer
The Two Koreas is a popular, not academic, history. That said, it is the best popular history (on any subject) I have read, and holds its own against not a few academic histories as well. Part of this is due to length; at 445 pages it is one of the longest popular histories I have read, but it's also one of the most readable. I was knocking back about a page per minute, due largely to Oberdorfer's prose, which is as engaging as it is precise.
After briefly describing the history of the Korean peninsula's division following World War II, Oberdorfer's narrative details the political and economic history of South Korea from the immediate postwar period to the Roh Dae Woo administration, before switching its forcus to political (especially foreign policy-related) and economic developments in North Korea from the early 90s to the dawn of the 21st century. Oberdorfer diligently and comprehensively explains how North and South Korea's interactions with the great powers (the United States, China, and the U.S.S.R./Russia) influenced their respective trajectories while never losing sight of the fact that he is writing about the Koreas, and not said great powers. He likewise gives concise explanations of important fields and concepts (What exactly is a light water reactor?) without overly digressing into minutiae. Best yet, his is the most objective yet thorough recounting of Korean history I have encountered: he places blame for diplomatic, economic, and political failures where it is due, while his own ideological leanings are completely absent from the narrative.
Really, about my only complaint concerning The Two Koreas is that Oberdorfer seems to have been unsure as to whether he wanted to write a book or anthology by a single author, and the volume's consistency suffers for it. Oberdorfer frequently summarises entire sections or chapters throughout latter portions of the text as if he assumes readers haven't read those earlier passages, but not consisently; nor does he offer such summaries in each chapter or indeed, for the more obscure references (quick, non-Korea experts: do you know to what "the tree incident" refers?). At one--and only one--point in the narrative Oberdorfer provides page numbers along with the rehashes.
That said, in terms of scope, objectivaty, and readability, this is perhaps the best modern history of the Korean peninsula I have encountered. I wish more authors would take their cues from Oberdorfer, and if you haven't read it, I suggest that you do so now.
That will be all.
1) The Two Koreas - Don Oberdorfer
The Two Koreas is a popular, not academic, history. That said, it is the best popular history (on any subject) I have read, and holds its own against not a few academic histories as well. Part of this is due to length; at 445 pages it is one of the longest popular histories I have read, but it's also one of the most readable. I was knocking back about a page per minute, due largely to Oberdorfer's prose, which is as engaging as it is precise.
After briefly describing the history of the Korean peninsula's division following World War II, Oberdorfer's narrative details the political and economic history of South Korea from the immediate postwar period to the Roh Dae Woo administration, before switching its forcus to political (especially foreign policy-related) and economic developments in North Korea from the early 90s to the dawn of the 21st century. Oberdorfer diligently and comprehensively explains how North and South Korea's interactions with the great powers (the United States, China, and the U.S.S.R./Russia) influenced their respective trajectories while never losing sight of the fact that he is writing about the Koreas, and not said great powers. He likewise gives concise explanations of important fields and concepts (What exactly is a light water reactor?) without overly digressing into minutiae. Best yet, his is the most objective yet thorough recounting of Korean history I have encountered: he places blame for diplomatic, economic, and political failures where it is due, while his own ideological leanings are completely absent from the narrative.
Really, about my only complaint concerning The Two Koreas is that Oberdorfer seems to have been unsure as to whether he wanted to write a book or anthology by a single author, and the volume's consistency suffers for it. Oberdorfer frequently summarises entire sections or chapters throughout latter portions of the text as if he assumes readers haven't read those earlier passages, but not consisently; nor does he offer such summaries in each chapter or indeed, for the more obscure references (quick, non-Korea experts: do you know to what "the tree incident" refers?). At one--and only one--point in the narrative Oberdorfer provides page numbers along with the rehashes.
That said, in terms of scope, objectivaty, and readability, this is perhaps the best modern history of the Korean peninsula I have encountered. I wish more authors would take their cues from Oberdorfer, and if you haven't read it, I suggest that you do so now.
That will be all.