An informed and compelling perspective on this painfully divided nation South Korea a democratic high-tech Asian Tiger; North Korea a secretive dictatorship on Bush's notorious axis of evil', with a controversial nuclear program and a poverty-stricken population. This title tells the story of the common heritage from the ancient states of Old Choson and Wiman Choson to the relics of Cold War politics. Preface 6(2) Maps: Early Kingdoms on the Korean Peninsula 8(1) Modern Korea 9(1) Chronology of Korean History 10(3) Introduction 13(16) The Creation of State Identity From Earliest Times to ad 668: Cultural Patterns in Flux 29(30) Unified Silla, ad 668--936: The Building of Confidence 59(26) Koryo, 918--1392: The Struggle for Independence 85(31) Early to Mid-Choson, 1392--1800: The Search for an Acceptable Orthodoxy 116(37) A Century of Insecurity The Hermit Kingdom, 1800--64: Tradition at Work 153(24) Incursion, Modernization and Reform, 1864--1905: Tradition at Bay 177(32) A Century of Suffering Culture under Threat, 1905--45: The Colonial Era 209(32) Partition and War, 1945--53: Return to Disunity 241(23) Post-War Korea: Tradition and Change 264(44) Sources and Further Reading 308(5) Discography 313(1) Acknowledgements 314(1) Index 315