The History of Korea (vol. 2 of 2)

Homer B. Hulbert wrote this history in 1905, just as Korea faced annexation by Japan, and his urgency permeates every page. This volume chronicles the Japanese invasions of the late sixteenth century, when Korea's very existence hung in the balance. At its heart stands Admiral Yi Sun-sin, whose turtle ships destroyed the Japanese navy against impossible odds, only to be undermined by court politics and bureaucratic jealousy. Hulbert traces the campaigns in granular detail: the defense of P'yŏng-yang, the Chinese alliance unraveling, the strategic brilliance and tragic near-defeats that defined this conflict. What elevates the work beyond mere chronicle is Hulbert's passionate conviction that understanding Korea's past was essential to preserving its future. He wrote as an eyewitness to erasure, preserving stories that colonial powers would prefer forgotten. For students of East Asian history, military strategy, or anyone seeking to understand how a smaller nation resisted a far larger aggressor through ingenuity and sacrifice, this remains an indispensable account.