The Koreans

An in-depth portrait of the history, culture, and economies of North and South Korea. “This is a thoughtful, passionate, and enlightening look at the world’s eleventh largest economy and one of its oldest cultures; required reading for the neophyte and Korea hand alike.” —Stephen Glain, correspondent for the Boston Globe and author of Mullahs, Merchants, and Militants A few decades ago, Koreans were an impoverished, agricultural people. In one generation, they emerged from the paddy fields to be