Dong-Choon Kim seeks to understand the true impact of the Korean War (1950-1953) on South Korea's people and society. How did key figures such as President Syngman Rhee respond when North Korean troops crossed the thirty-eighth parallel and what does this tell us about the nature of the South Korean state at the time? How did South Koreans experience the North Korean occupation and what happened once Seoul and other areas were restored? Why were so many people brutally massacred by both sides? How does the war continue to influence South Korean institutions and society? This social history of the Korean War addresses these crucial questions; exposing and probing the war's deepest wounds; wounds long concealed by Cold War rhetoric and successive oppressive military regimes in the South.
#6593311 in Books 1998-06-01Original language:English 8.25 x .60 x 5.75l; .80 #File Name: 0908812566220 pages
Review
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Maori myths and legends great book; tells you a lot about the meanings ...By feliciaMaori myths and legends great book ;tells you a lot about the meanings of things like the morepork owl for example warnings if you see him during the day very spiritual bird to Maori people .0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Dry; but worth a read if you have an interest in such thingsBy Paul LawrenceNew Zealand is an amazingly beautiful place and any travel nut really should get around to seeing the place at least once in their life. But of course physical beauty is one thing; many travellers will also want to learn a bit about the history and culture of a place. And I'm one of them. So on a trip to New Zealand I picked this up in a book shop hoping for a rollicking read and some insight into the spiritual style beliefs of the Maori people of NZ. And certainly this concise but complete feeling book isn't the worst book I've ever read by a long way. The book is set out logically and contains a whole heapin' helpin' of entries regarding mythological characters from the native culture of the country.Overall I found this a pretty good primer and it was interesting to contrast the characters and their trials and their ideas with those of Australian Aboriginal people I've read about in other works. The dilemna here is there is a bit of repetition - as you'd expect perhaps given that many of these figures are going to be arch-types and many of the tales are going to be about universal human traits. Also many of the entries are very brief - as the book says this isn't supposed to be just a collection of tales it is actually an encyclopedia. So many of the entries just tell you who a certain person or creature was and not really any tale involving them. At times I felt that this might be better suited to a student of mythology rather than a tourist looking for some extra insight. Despite its concise nature it was a bit of a slog to get through at times.Given it's dry nature and the fact that this is more of an encyclopedia rather than a book of tales this may not be the best place to start on this subject. But for what it is the book serves it's purpose and perhaps this would best be used as a companion book to other releases with more linear narrative styles.
