Abstract

Modern Korean history, much like Korea itself, has emerged in recent years out of the shadows of its larger and better known neighbors China and Japan. Several decades ago it was possible to place almost all the scholarly literature on Korean history in English on a single shelf of books. Indeed, Korea was so little understood that when it appeared at all in Western textbooks, it often was restricted to developments related to the Korean War and the Cold War. But in recent years the historical scholarship available to non-Koreans has grown enormously.