Book review: Korea Old and New: A History by Carter J. Eckert The book I chose for this review assignment yes is titled Korea Old and New: A History by Carter J. New: A History by author Carter J. Eckert along with other contributing authors Ki-baik Lee, Young Ick Lew, Michael Robinson, and Edward W. Wagner. The book was published at the Korea Institute, Harvard University in 1990. The book consists of 418 pages and is more of a survey of Korean history and a type of reference book, rather than selected readings on modern Korean politics. I chose this book because it is a comprehensive survey of Korean history from the ancient Choson period to the economic boom of the 1990s, a span of more than 2,000 years. Each chapter covers a different period, but they all share the same organization in describing the social, cultural, political, philosophical and academic aspects of the period in their respective subsections. This made it easier to later refer to previous chapters and compare different periods to learn the complete history of Korea. This book is brought together in two different efforts, one of which is to understand this latter history of the post-1945 era with its period of political liberalization and rapid industrialization, while at the same time centering the entire text on the issue of Korean nationalism and on the fight against the countless foreign invasions that Korea faced. The purpose of this book was designed to provide a detailed treatment of how modern Korea developed through the joint efforts of the best Eastern and Western scholars who wanted to construct a fair overview of Korea's complicated history. Furthermore, the authors wanted to create an updated version of Korea's history by covering the contemporary arena up to the 1990s. The...... middle of the paper...... says that I was able to get a good overview of Korean history with a strong sense of knowledge gained. What I gained in particular was a better perception of Korea as a unique cultural entity with its own sense of excellence and individuality. I also learned that despite the hardships Koreans have suffered in this century, they have successfully endured every worst situation a nation could ever experience. From the colonial rule of Japan to the strong influence Korea has experienced from the Russian communist state and American democracy, Korea has been able to withstand all these instabilities and transform itself into what could be a healthy, modernized nation. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who wants a broad yet in-depth overview of Korean history because; this book is precisely written and divided accordingly so as not to make learning the story difficult or confusing.