From the category archives:

Book reviews: Politics

Michael Breen: The Koreans

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by Philip Gowman on 30 December, 2009

in Book reviews: History,Book reviews: Politics,Book reviews: other

Michael Breen: The Koreans – Who They Are, What They Want, Where Their Future Lies Thomas Dunne Books, 1998 & 2004 With a commendable dose of filial piety appropriate to the subject of his book, Michael Breen dedicates his work to “Mum and Dad”. Having lived in Korea on and off since 1982, maybe some [...]

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Korea Yearbook 2008

by Philip Gowman 14 March 2009
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A review of the 2008 Korea Yearbook

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Mythology in the making

by Philip Gowman 12 May 2008
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Lee Myung Bak: Korea’s CEO President Seoul Selection, 2008 When their country has pulled itself up from the devastation of war in the space of fifty years, and a man has risen from poverty to the highest office in the same period, Koreans have every right to feel proud of themselves and their country. That [...]

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Mark Clifford: Troubled Tiger

by Philip Gowman 5 July 2006
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(M.E. Sharpe, 1998) Chronicles the modern history of Korea from the 1960s to the mid-90s, focusing on the drive for economic growth and the control exerted by the Blue House over the direction of the economy. Clifford gives us a politically balanced view, emphasising the successes of Park Chung-hee, but not shrinking from laying bare [...]

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