I was disappointed with this book. While the author, Charles Tennant, tries to give an overview of the entire history of Korea, he includes so much irrelevant information that the reader loses focus. In too many cases, Mr. Tennant concentrates on small matters such as which second cousin married the fifth queen of the ninth warlord that he forgets the focus of the chapter on hand (whether it be the invasion of the Mongols or the establishment of the Koryo dynasty).

Mr. Tennant also has a tendency of introducing a host of different characters into one sentence without explaining who they are and what role they played in Korean history. And then, he never mentions these characters again. The book would have been easier to read if he had left out these kinds of sentences.