John Mahelm Berry Sill's role as the American Minister to Korea (1894-1897) is one of controversy. He has been described as weak, ineffective, and reluctant by some and as independent, proactive, and alert by others, depending on the researcher. He served during an extremely turbulent period of Korean history, a span of time that encompassed the Sino-Japanese War, the Gabo Reforms, the murder of the Korean queen, and King Gojong's subsequent refuge in the Russian legation. While this book does utilize some diplomatic despatches, it generally relies upon the personal correspondences between the Sills in Korea and their family in the United States. These letters provide a candid view of life in not only the American community in Seoul, but also in the Russian legation, where King Gojong and the crown prince sought refuge following the murder of Queen Min. The letters also give evidence of the rumors and speculation that plagued the daily lives of not only the Western community in Seoul but the Korean community as well.

This anthology is a compilation of Westerners’ accounts of their visits to Korea, originally published in books or newspapers before the country opened its doors in the late nineteenth century. The opening of Korea made it possible to explore the country in detail and write detailed accounts. Prior impressions were garnered mostly from brief visits to remote islands along the coast. The accounts published here are mainly anecdotal, and contain many generalizations. However, the accumulated impressions of these early encounters surely influenced the perspectives of later travelers, and help explain the overwhelmingly negative image of Korea that Western governments harbored at the time. The book can serve as a useful resource for studying Korea’s early interactions with the outside world, and will give readers an idea of the criteria by which Westerners judged the foreign “other.”

?Clark thoroughly evaluates a wealth of primary sources to provide an extraordinary monograph about Westerners and their arduous experience in Korea?illuminates major historical events of modern Korea as seen through foreign eyes, and narrates Western residents? tacit assistance in the underground Korean nationalist movement. He explains the influence of colonial rule on the Korean people, Western experience in a divided Korea after WWII, and the dynamics for the Korean War?s eruption. With original in-depth analysis, this book offers and unusual addition to the Western literature of Modern Korea. Highly recommended.??Choice ?Living Dangerously in Korea gives a grand, panoramic view of the events of the Korean Peninsula in the first half of the 20th century. Clark has provided many unique insights into Korean history while retracing his family?s missionary life back to the era of his grandfather. This really is an extraordinary book with great depth and a feeling for the importance of many historical events in Korea that impacted the world at large.??Korean Quarterly ??the book?s wealth of anecdotes and vignettes will enrich anyone?s understanding of Korea. Clark?s vast knowledge and familiarity with modern Korea and with the Western community is apparent. We are reading the distillation of a lifetime of study informed by his own upbringing as a 'Korea Kid.? This book should be accessible to most undergraduate students, and should be on the reading list of anyone with an interest in modern Korean history or the story of Westerners and Asia.??Education About Asia

Brandon O'Brien and Randy Richards shed light on the ways that Western readers often misunderstand the cultural dynamics of the Bible. Identifying nine areas where commonplaces of modern Western thought diverge with the text, the authors ask us to reconsider long-held opinions about our most beloved book.

As part of his personal archive, Krawciw's maps were bequeathed to Harvard University upon his death in 1975. This book serves as both a catalog of his collection and a description of how the maps he collected serve as an invaluable source for Ukraine's history and a symbol of Ukrainian national identity.