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Emphasising context, connections and long-term trends, A History of Korea illuminates both the distinctiveness and universality of one of the world’s oldest cultures. Assuming no prior knowledge, Hwang guides readers from early state formation and the dynastic eras to the modern experience in both North and South Korea. Structured around episodic accounts, each chapter begins by discussing a defining moment in Korean history in context, with an extensive examination of how the events and themes under consideration have been viewed up to the present day. Revised and refreshed throughout, this new edition brings the narrative right up to the present day while the wealth of resources on the brand new companion website will support your learning both inside and outside of the classroom.
Dynamic and meticulously researched, this third edition continues to be one of the leading introductory textbooks on Korean history. It is essential reading for undergraduate and postgraduate students of Korean or Asian history.
List of contents
List of Chronologies and Maps
Brief Chronology
Maps
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Note on Romanization
1. Goguryeo and Ancient Korea
2. Queen Seondeok and Silla's Unification of Korea
3. The Unified Silla Kingdom
4. Founding of the Goryeo Dynasty
5. Religion and Regionalism in the Goryeo Order
6. The Mongol Overlord Period
7. Goryeo-Joseon Transition
8. Confucianism and the Family in the Early Joseon Era
9. The Great Invasions, 1592-1636
10. Ideology, Family, and Nationhood in the Mid-Joseon Era
11. Intellectual Opening in the Late Eighteenth Century
12. Popular Culture in the Late Joseon Era
13. Nineteenth-Century Unrest
14. 1894, A Fateful Year
15. The Great Korean Empire
16. The Japanese Takeover, 1904-1918
17. The Long 1920s
18. Nation, Culture, and Everyday Life in the Late Colonial Period
19. Wartime Mobilization, 1938-45
20. The Liberation Period, 1945-50
21. The Korean War^rth Korea
23. 1960s South Korea
24. Culture and Politics in 1970s South Korea
25. Monumental Life in North Korea
26. South Korean Democratization
27. South Korea in the 21st Century
28. Epilogue: Historical Reckoning in the Two Koreas, 2010-2020.- Further Readings
Index.
About the author
Kyung Moon Hwang is Professor of Korean Studies at The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia.
Summary
Dynamic and meticulously researched, A History of Korea continues to be one of the leading introductory textbooks on Korean history. Assuming no prior knowledge, Hwang guides readers from early state formation and the dynastic eras to the modern experience in both North and South Korea. Structured around episodic accounts, each chapter begins by discussing a defining moment in Korean history in context, with an extensive examination of how the events and themes under consideration have been viewed up to the present day. By engaging with recurring themes such as collective identity, external influence, social hierarchy, family and gender, the author introduces the major historical events, patterns and debates that have shaped both North and South Korea over the past 1500 years.
This textbook is essential reading for undergraduate and postgraduate students of Korean or Asian history. The first half of the book covers pre-20th century history, and the second half the modern era, making it ideal for survey courses.
Foreword
A highly accessible, authoritative and complete history of North and South Korea
Additional text
Kyung Moon Hwang’s A History of Korea is the most reader-friendly guide for anyone who is interested in the historical changes of the Korean Peninsula. Hwang’s masterful selections of historical themes and episodes on Korean history from antiquity to the present are well organized in this book. An indispensable work for helping students and general readers understand one of the most dynamic countries in the world.
