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.

America's Man in Korea is the story of America's initial involvement in Korea as told through the private family letters of U.S. Navy ensign George Clayton Foulk, Washington's representative in Seoul in the mid-1880s. "The Hermit Kingdom," as Korea was known, was no ordinary diplomatic posting at this time. Emerging from centuries of self-imposed isolation, Korea was struggling to establish itself as an independent nation amid the imperial rivalries of China, Japan, England, and Russia; anti-foreign violence remained a simmering threat; the Korean government was a hotbed of intrigue and factional strife, its monarch King Kojong casting about for help. Foulk, fluent in Korean and the foremost western expert on the country, was an astute observer of this country's transformation. In his private letters, published here for the first time, Foulk recounts his struggle to represent the U.S. and to help Korea in the face of State Department indifference.

The lost art of letter writing comes alive in a soldier's letters from the front, in Letters from Korea, an historical bit of Americana from the year 1953, when the United States was fighting in the Korean War. These letters were written to the author's mother, Elsie Jones Irvine, while her father, James Preston Irvine, was stationed in Korea during the war. They are not only love letters, but are a chronicle of the time, providing an intriguing slice of history of what was happening during that era in both countries. Julia Irvine came across the letters in an old footlocker in 2005, fifty-two years after they were written. Retired teacher Julia Irvine grew up an Army brat. She now lives in Columbus, Georgia. This is her first book, which was inspired by "finding the letters my father wrote to my mother." Publisher's website: http: //sbprabooks.com/JuliaIrvine

My First Book of Korean Words is a beautifully illustrated book that introduces young children to Korean language and culture through everyday words. The words profiled in this book are all commonly used in the Korean language and are both informative and fun for English-speaking children to learn. The goals of My First Book of Korean Words are multiple: to familiarize children with the sounds and structure of Korean speech, to introduce core elements of Korean culture, to illustrate the ways in which languages differ in their treatment of everyday sounds and to show how, through cultural importation, a single word can be shared between languages. Both teachers and parents will welcome the book's cultural and linguistic notes, and appreciate how the book is organized in a familiar ABC structure. Each word is presented in Hangeul, as well as in its Romanized form. With the help of this book, we hope more children (and adults) will soon be a part of the nearly 80 million people worldwide that speak Korean!

By expanding the definition of "epistle" to include any writing that addresses the intended receiver directly, JaHyun Kim Haboush introduces readers to the rich epistolary practice of Chos?n Korea. The Chos?n dynasty (1392-1910) produced an abundance of epistles, writings that mirror the genres of neighboring countries (especially China) while retaining their own specific historical trajectory. Written in both literary Chinese and vernacular Korean, the writings collected here range from royal public edicts to private letters, a fascinating array that blurs the line between classical and everyday language and the divisions between men and women. Haboush's selections also recast the relationship between epistolography and the concept of public and private space. Haboush groups her epistles according to where they were written and read: public letters, letters to colleagues and friends, social letters, and family letters. Then she arranges them according to occasion: letters on leaving home, deathbed letters, letters of fiction, and letters to the dead. She examines the mechanics of epistles, their communicative space, and their cultural and political meaning. With its wholly unique collection of materials, Epistolary Korea produces more than a vivid chronicle of pre- and early modern Korean life. It breaks new ground in establishing the terms of a distinct, non-European form of epistolography.