It describes so vividly the backstreets of South Korea that you can see the pictures by reading. North Korea seems to be real axis of evel as President Bush claimed. Money is everything in South Korea and people even dream of furtune that is a pig. Leatherdale, the author/traveler describes what normal tourists can't see. You must read it.

It is written by a British traveler/writer and shows vividly the inside of the society. In South Korea, money is everything and they evern dream of money which is symbolized by a pig. In North Korea, extreme the opposite of South, there is no money even to dream of. The last Stalinist country on the earh, North Korea is a county of evel. No trourists can see the backstreets of South Korea.

It is an amazing story which describes vividly the inside of the society. Two Koreas are extremely different sides in every sense. No wonder President Bush called North Korea one of exis of evel, In Sourh, money is everything and they dream of pigs which symbolize fortunre. It tells you about every corner of back street of South Korea and what they think. Did it make South Korea a miracle of economy? You must read this book. Recommended for everybody.

This book leaves the reader forever changed. It tells the story of the Kwangju uprising--one of the most important events in the history of the struggle for freedom in the latter part of the 20th century. Beyond a history of Korea, this book and its story is of utmost importance to all human beings.

This is an important book for anyone interested in Korea, human rights, or political movements. An excellent introduction by Bruce Cumings establishes the context; an equally excellent afterward by Tim Shorrock addresses the incident from the viewpoint of US foreign policy. But it is the diary itself that is truly unforgettable.

This detailed, almost moment-by-moment account of the Kwangju rebellion is a fascinating read. A student protest leads to a vicious government crackdown so extreme - using elite paratroop forces against simple protesters - that the people of the city give up their lives and eventually take up arms to take their city back. The introduction provides a capsule history of South Korea, and the afterward an account of the American government's cowardly behavior before, during and after the rebellion. It's a fast read but will leave a lasting impression.

I studied this book for 2 weeks before my first trip to Korea and Hong Kong. Wow! Very informative with lots of basic but important details about meeting rituals, business card etiquette and tons more! My Boss who has been traveling to Asia for 16 years wants a copy of this fabulous book!

Our consulting staff recommends this book to all business women travelling to Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan and South Korea. For each country, it covers rules of business and social etiquette, gift-giving, how to handle what westerners consider to be sexual harassment, a list of recommended hotels, restaurants and "in" nightspots, and helpful suggestions on how to conduct business successfully in the local culture. Truly a bargain at this price. John R. Jagoe, Director, Export Institute.

This must have been an interesting conference: a multinational cast of the usual suspects (Scott Snyder, Kyongman Jeon, Aidan Foster-Carter et al.) joined by some functional area specialists (Jeffrey Pilkington, Danny Leipziger et al.) for added spice.

Among the highpoints: Heather Smith's dissection of the food situation, David Steinberg's thoughtful reflections on South Korean politics, and Holger Wolf's demolition of the myths of German unification. Anthony Michell provides a heterox view of the North Korean economy. It may not be a convincing view, but it is a welcome antidote to usual recitation of Bank of Korea figures.

Today in South Korea we have "sunshine policy" toward North Korea. But we need to know what will happen. This book has many experts from South Korea and other countries. I think that the best essay is by Professor Hearther Smith. She analyses the food situation in North Korea, using many datas. There is also an essay by Dr. Danny Leipziger from the World Bank. He describes how international institutions can help North Korea based on the experience of Vietnam. The only bad thing about this book is one of the authors refers almost only to her own researches (and one author criticizes the editor). But this is an excellent book on an important topic.

You don't necessarily need to have an anthropology degree to read this "psychocultural analysis" of Korea--the author is an excellent writer and I found his approach, style and analysis to be very intriguing, provocative and powerful. At any rate, a work like this is precisely (desparately) what is needed. There is such a dearth of material that examines how north and south Korea think about each other as similar/different in terms of unification. Most people just assume it is a given without looking at it more closely. I found it fascinating and informative to catch a glimpse of how post-war south Korea problematically depicted the north through school books, student demonstrations, and museum exhibits. And yes, I agree with the other reviewer: The chapter on the thoughts of north Korean defectors was something I was hungry to learn about it and it didn't let me down.

It is so hard to think about the two Koreas--they are placed in such a reductionist, bi-polar context that any nuanced or multifacted view or outlook is hard to discuss. The author demonstrates how complicated, contradictory and ultimately unprepared Koreans are for this "sacred goal" of unification. I was struck by how limited and "stuck" Koreans have been in their assumptions about national identity, defining themselves in opposition to each other all the while pushing for unification. A great virtue of this book is that it avoids the typical approach of other scholars, pundits and news commentators who take a dry, "political science" approach to north Korea, limiting their analysis to geopolitics, regional power dynamics, diplomatic strategies, nuclear prolliferation issues, blah blah blah. The author uses museums displays, children's textbooks and TV shows, as well as real life interviews with defectors. Quite a good book with excellent analysis that will leave you feeling that you learned to realize something oh-so-human and fascinating about a deadlocked political situation in an illuminating way.

I'm not aware that there is an comparable book on Korea. Some may find it too "academic" (I don't) but the prose is still lucid and it is a unique book. Anyone interested in north-south Korea relations should read this. The material on defectors is especially good.

I found this book to be very helpful for my Korean experience. I am currently teaching in Korea and bought the book a few months before I left to prepare. It gives you inside information from the Korean obsession with appearance to lesson plans and ideas. It is a little bit too much based on people travelling to Seoul but overall very helpful, highly recommended.

Going to Korea to teach was a big decision for me, if not a bit scary, and coming across this book made a difficult transition much easier. From tips on where to begin the job search, to helpful classroom hints, to the ins and out of everyday living in Korea, "Korea Calling" became an invaluable tool for me during my year of teaching there. Teaching Engish Korea is a great adventure, grab a copy of this book and DO IT!

The story of "Yongsu's Mother" is compelling, informative, and thought-provoking at the same time. Yongsu's Mother clearly enjoys telling her stories, and has developed a flair for the dramatic (at the expense of accuracy from time to time it appears). I read this book for a class on East Asian folklore, and while I realize Yongsu's Mother is not the archetypal shaman, her experiences shed light on not only Korean shamans, but Koreans in general.

The most interesting part of the book, besides the stories, is Kendall's struggle to ascertain the accuracy of Yongsu's Mother's stories. Yongsu's Mother is presumably not deliberately lying to Kendall, but instead exhibiting a fundamental human paradox: the past, presumably done with and set in stone, is made fluid by the human mind and memory. The point is not that Yongsu's Mother's variations destroy her credibility, but rather that the variations give insight into her, and presumably her culture's, psyche.

This was a wonderful book ... don't be scared off by the title: this is not a book specifically about religion, but a biography about a woman who happens to be a shaman. 5 out of 5 stars.

This is an exhiliarating account of the life of a Korean Shaman, and her interesting life in modern Korea. It is fun to read just for pleasure and it's interesting. Because it is a case study, it does not necessarily purport to be representative of all Korean Shamans, but nevertheless it teaches a lot about Korea in this century.

I thoroughly enjoyed this account of Chung Ju Yung's life and the rise of Hyundai. The son of impoverished farmers, Chung managed to build the world's largest shipbuilding company, create a competitive Korean automobile, and sped the development of South Korea into one of the world's foremost economies--all with little more than sweat and determination!
Steers does a great job of detailing Chung's personal and business character, along with providing a detailed history of the growth of Hyundai in the larger context of the Korean economy. I highly recommend it!

The engineering and managerial feats that Chung Ju Yung accomplished with only a grade school education are amazing.

as someone who tends to be an "impatient" reader and usually takes weeks to finish a book, i couldn't put this down and finished it in a day! each story has its own unique personality... sweet, funny, despondent, empowered, etc. the author's description of her surroundings and travels blends beautifully with the honest and raw accounts of her thoughts and feelings. i definitely recommend this!

Once again, Mr Davis has written a pretty good novel of crime in the military. That being said, it lost my interest at times, but I still had to know how it would end and I wasn't disappointed. Looking forward to his next novel.

The Commander was an excellent read. Not very many books are written in a first-person format, but it is a great way to write. The story is first-rate, with compelling, believable characters.

"The Commander" is truly an excellent piece of suspense and mystery writing. Set in Korea, a man passed up for promotion by the military is called back on the job to solve the murder of a dancer known as the "Tiger Lady." As he delves into the case, he finds it more and more difficult to figure out who he can trust. Numerous plot twists keep the reader guessing and the story has an ending you probably won't see coming.