Korea Old and New: A History

by Carter J. Eckert, Ki-Baik Lee

This full-scale presentation of the general history of Korea not only provides a detailed treatment of the post-1945 period, but describes at length the traditional historical–cultural milieu from which modern Korea has developed.

This century has witnessed a multiplicity of both domestic and external factors that have resulted either in tendentious history or in emphasis badly skewed toward such dramatic events as the Korean War or South Korea’s remarkable economic successes. Korea Old and New presents a more balanced survey. Its coverage of traditional Korea emphasizes cultural developments not merely as isolated expressions of the creative spirit of the people but as integrally related to Korea’s political, social, and economic history. The book’s preponderant concern is with the tumultuous modern era, and six academic specialists provide a wide-angle view of each distinct period. The authors succeed in elucidating the past while providing new understanding of the vast changes that have taken place in this ancient nation.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Asia, School, World History

464 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1991

About the author

Carter J. Eckert was an American historian who specialized in Korean history. He was the Yoon Se Young Professor of Korean History at Harvard University.

Reviews

[Lemon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very informative in dry way. I got the impression the authors were trying very hard to remain objective, which is fine, but they had an unfortunate tendency to skip past interesting bits. The book zooms past the little details that would make historical figures stand out as individuals with personalities. As an example, a person might be mentioned briefly as being legendary, but only in one sentence, and without the book saying *why* they were legendary. In the face of so many dry facts, I often found myself wondering which of the many people and events named were things I needed to remember and which were never going to be mentioned again. The book could have done a better job highlighting what was important, is what I'm saying.

For me it was a 4-star reference book and a 2-star history book. So I'll average it out and say 3 stars.

[Benemint · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is "the textbook" of Korean history used in American colleges. It tries to be as objective as possible so that it can detach itself from ideological fights between nationalist-leftists and nationalist-conserves. But the outcome is EXTREMELY DRY. It does not give a nice readable narrative with punctuations, and leaves the reader wondering "so what was important?" The best alternatives available for "modern" Korean history are: Bruce Cumings' Korea's Place in the Sun and Michael Robinson's Korea's Twentieth Century Odyssey. The former challenges the reader with many important historical questions. The problem is that Cumings devotes sooo much space for 1945-1953 history (about 100 pages), which I think is too detailed as an introduction to a survey history. It might also be a little confusing in terms of chronological narrative. Robinson's coverage is shorter and with more elaboration on colonial society than Cumings's. Since I study colonialism I am biased for him, but it has a much more readable narrative that gives a sense of what it would have felt like if you had lived in that period.

[Liana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m disappointed that it ends with 1990. Also my copy was so poorly edited.
Otherwise, enjoyed it.

[Maria · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a general history of Korea (North and South, since the split into two nations is relatively recent). Starting from the earliest we know of human life in the Korean peninsula until South Korea of 1990 (the book was published in 1990).
Generally speaking this book does a good job at informing about processes and events that occured on the Korean peninsula, albeit in need of an update. (Also, it is pretty dry.) At the time of publishing, there wasn't as much known about what went on in North Korea as we know now, as well as (of course) what happened from 1990s onward.

While this book is engaging as a whole, there are many passages that are hard to grasp due to (unnecessarily) high-level academic English. Sentences are long and complex with difficult words that, in my opinion, could have been replaced with more common ones without losing academic credibility. Also, in the last chapters the editor might have fallen asleep or have been in a hurry, because there are multiple letters missing...
Nevertheless, this book did help me understand the history of the Koreas better. :)

[Dimitri · Rating 3 out of 5]

Alltough outdated, the pre-1945 portion of the book still provides insight into the pysche of the Hermit Kingdom, nurturing almost a millenium of continuous dynasty in contrast to the artificially seemless succession of Chinese dynasties, while absorbing or discarding elements of Chinese culture as suited them, and feuding with the expansionist flares in Japanese foreign policy.

For students of WWI and WWII, it provides a fresh perspective on events in the region, severely compressing the lazy flow of time usually inherent to accounts of Japanese rule to its feverish reality of a generation's length, with the Russo-Japanese war as a cataclyst far more direct than it's academic status of 'world war zero' that taught foreign observers in vain about barbed wire and machine guns. For Korea, the Russian defeat meant new masters in the house.

[Jonathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good, readable general history of Korea. Korea has been a united country since the 7th century CE up until its artificial division in 1945, was heavily influenced culturally by China and yet conquered by Japan and absorbed into the Japanese empire in the early 20th century. All this, plus a remarkably pure ethnic makeup, makes the history of Korea somewhat unique and goes part way to explain her economic success from the 1960s until the present day. A major drawback of this book is that the narrative simply drops North Korea after the Korean War, as if the northern part of the peninsula sank into the sea. Not really fair to those people who suffered so much deprivation, oppression and death. And still do.

[feux d'artifice · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oh man it's been a while since I read a history book, I miss this lol

I liked the old history part more than the new part! (This may be influenced by my watching saeguks in the past... It was cool recognizing the periods referenced in the book) And there were some minor punctuation and spelling mistakes that could have been avoided with a good copy editor... But over all I thought it was a pretty informative textbook read. I was particularly struck by the topic of the effect of neo-confucianism in Korean society.

I think it'd be nice to read an updated version of this book, as it only covered up the late 1980s in Korean history (the book was published in 1990)

I'm also all ears for more Korean history book recommendations. :))

[LM Huffman · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF, dry and out of date.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overwhelmingly more focussed on recent history and politics than the pre-modern period and sorely lacking in detail or human interest. Very 'names and dates' orientated.

[Claire · Rating 2 out of 5]

Detailní informace, ale bohužel psáno nezajímavě a čtenář se u čtení nesoustředí.
Skvělý co se týče informací, ale čtivost je minimální.

[John Eliade · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't know much about Korean history and this seemed like a good book to start. It certainly was as it introduces not only major characters operating in Korean history but also many minor ones. When getting acquainted with a country's history I try to find a book like this so I can then seek out more in depth ones in the future. I'll probably feel more comfortable moving on to Ki-baik Lee's "A New History of Korea" when I male or back to the bookstore.

Anyway, one passage which rings too true which fuels my own theory while working in the Korean education system: He suggests however, that once the orientation of society has shifted toward modernization, many of the [Confucian] values mentioned above, now internalized and no longer conscious, can provide a cultural basis for the requisite economic transformation. Following Tu, one may therefore conclude that the effect of Confucianism on East Asian economic growth has been a case of"unintended consequences," similar in that sense to the effect of Calvinism on early Western capitalists. A good example of such an "unintended consequence" in South Korea has been the country's development of an exceptionally well educated population, capable of taps assimilation and adaptation of foreign technology and economic expertise. instead of reading Mencius and Chu Hsi, ambitious South Koreans now read Paul Samuelson and Martin Feldstein, but the respect for education and commitment to self improvement through study remain much the same add in the Choson [Joseon] dynasty.

I would really love to see korean reactions to this book since it is pretty objective history. It recognizes the atrocities committed (by Westerners, Koreans, and Japanese), and even then, while explaining that that's the reason for Korean xenophobia, still points to Japan as Korea's economic future. American economics are obvious and pervasive, but wholly bent on America's military connections. Japanese business interests are silent (er) but more ingrained in the society. So, the book concludes, while it's fantastic that Korea is an economic giant in terms of the brave new world, the future will always be in local regional economies. And in a world dependent on sealants for trade and not the lands based routes (like the Silk Road) the future lies across the narrow, suspicious, "East" Sea.

[Georgene · Rating 4 out of 5]

A long, confusing history of Korea. It was confusing because I have little prior knowledge of Korean history. However, I persevered and was rewarded by the discovery of an intricate culture that, while borrowing heavily from Chinese culture, is uniquely its own.

Called "The Hermit Kingdom", Korea long sought isolation from both it's neighbors and from the West. In the end, it was the Japanese, with the connivance of the U.S., that made Korea a Japanese colony.

Korea's history is long, involved and often bloody. Long held captive by the aristocracy, the common people lived in abject poverty with little hope of anything better. It has only been in very recent memory that wealthy and finally a sort of political freedom has come the way of the South. The North is still in bondage in a way that is quite similar to the ages of kings and conquest.

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

While not concise, this book is quite complete and written well enough that the average person, knowing nothing about Korea, can read easily. And aside from spending a ridiculous amount of time on stone age stuff that no one really cares about (sorry stone age Koreans, but its true) it can be riveting stuff. For example, I think that the chapters on President Park Chung-Hee are particularly illuminating and balanced, given his controversial presidency and the enormous changes that took place during his rule. Korea Old and New is particularly well done for the last 2 centuries of history, pretty great for the last thousand years, and a little shallow on current events, but overall highly recommended as a comprehensive survey on Korean History.

[Sojyung · Rating 2 out of 5]

A textbook-- meticulously researched, dishearteningly dry.

[Cgilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very, very dense. Academic.

[Joseph]

Apparently all of the history of Korea took place in order to give birth to South Korea

[Betsy · Rating 2 out of 5]

good for a complete overview of Korean history. Can get dry and a little confusing at times, with names just thrown around. But a good introduction.

[Alex]

Korea Old and New: A History by Carter J. Eckert (1991)