Professor Queen's informative treatise on the hermaneutics of the Confucian Spring and Autumn is a relatively concise text, though the level of language and jargon is very high. Useful as a text or a resource for research.

If you are planning your first holiday in Korea and look for a compact, well organized and illustrated travel guide, take this one into consideration. It is being kept up to date and contains all the major and minor attractions that Koreans would tell you you should not miss. Addresses, maps, some background information on food, arts, religion etc., everything is ordered into seperate chapters and really "at your fingertips"; the main part of the book naturally covers locations of interest.

If you are interested in a better understanding of Korea's highest treasure, it's people, this is not the guide's purpose and it can only serve as an introduction. In this case you should for example go for D.N. Clark's "culture and customs" or D.M. Hoffman's "Lanterns on the river".

This is an excellent and a very detailed report on one of the Korean Chaebol, Hyundai.

You will understand how the Korean economy is structured and operating in South Korea and why they have the problems facing today.

Also very valuable is the part on the difference between Japanese and Korean business operation in the States. It reminds the rest of the world about what difficulities would be encountered and what issues should be pay attention to.

Harrison's "Long March to Power" is an excellent intro to the history of China's communist party. Out of the fractured and humiliated China of the 20's in spite of the "universal" appeal of marxism, Chinese communists retained a strong nationalistic bent throughout.

Especially good is the period covering the war with Japan. The KMD of Chiang Kei Shek is given little leeway by Harrison. Chiang was corrupt and so was the KMD. When the KMD could have rallied Chinese- it failed to leaving the CCP to recruit among the population. When the KMD might have fought the Japanese, it spent it's time with warlord struggles or against the CCP.

Harrison doesn't relent and shows the interparty rivalries and sometime viciousness of CCP politics. This is a densely written and fact filled book for those with an interest in the period.

It is fascinating journey to relate Martin Luther's theology to Buddhist beliefs. One key thing that struck me in reading about these finer points of theology or religion is that most Christians or Buddhists or Muslims or Hindus live their lives ignorant of these finer points and hold a simpler faith.
To me, Amida Buddha comes the closest to the Christian concept of Jesus Christ. Amida Buddha is appealed to by two innocent and powerless characters in the conclusion to Akira Kurosawa's film masterpiece, Ran, an adaptation of William Shakespeare's tragedy, King Lear.

This is a compelling account of the Vietnam War from an unknown point of view: that of one of the 100,000 South Koreans who fought in the war. The book's plot is slow moving and the prose somewhat stiff and overly cerebral (which may be the fault of the translation, which is not inspired). But the narrator makes keen and vivid observations of the war.

This book is very good to understand the background of Taguchi's approach. He has an interesting view on the different roles of engineers during the design cycle. The concept of Quality Loss is striking.
It is not good for learning. The examples shown may be difficult to follow for a beginner. I suggest to read real case studies from the US, from Europe or from Japan in parallel.

This book is second of a 5-part series, and covers two of the nine major forms of Tae Kwon Do: Tan Gun and To San. It not only provides an overview of the entire form, but breaks down each form into each individual move, complete with a written description, 5 views of the move, and a photo showing the application of the move against an assailant. (The photos are dated, but since retro fashion is in, it looks kind of hip.) It also shows combination attacks and self-defense techniques. The pictorial glossary (English and Korean) is very handy, as well. Jhoon Rhee himself is the demonstrator in the photos.

Donald Chung's account of the Korean War in his eyes was extremely touching because it showed his struggle to understand the war. He also showed how difficult it was for the Korean people who were forced to live and thrive with the line that others drew for them, which caused the people to be separated from their family. Then to see his life as he tries to regain contact with his family in North Korea during the Iron Curtain era was sad and extremely endearing to see his struggle. I used many tissues to get through this book. I definitely recommend it for the great story but also the history behind it.

As a Canadian I find that this book is an excellant example of what can be achieved through exploring our multi-culturalism. The children's artwork, coupled with the text make this book very informative to others so they can understand a little about other cultures, and see the differences and similarities. What I find to be an added bonus is that the text is written both in English, and the writers native language! An excellent read for children mostly, but still enjoyable to adults.