The Koreans: Who They Are, What They Want, Where Their Future Lies

It gives the reader an interesting perspective on the general Korean mindset and behaviour.

A good read that gives one journalist's perspective on his experiences in South Korea (generally) over a very long period of time. Has very good sections on Korean history; both modern and ancient.Word of caution though, this book is slightly out-dated as it only covers Korea till 1999 really, with a tiny section on the 2002 World Cup. The spelling of Korean names is still done in old Western style, and these are opinions of one man.It is easy to read, and a good travel accompaniment; though be aware that South Korea is a fast changing society and some of the views expressed here in this book don't correspond to the actual way-of-life in Korea in 2012. I would suggest to purchase a recently published book about Korea, to be read in tandem with this one.Nevertheless, still worth a read.

Having recently arrived to live and work in S. Korea, I found Breen's book very helpful in giving me a general overview of the country and its people. Breen has obviously spent a lot of time here and a lot of that mixing with some key people that have made S. Korea what it is today.But there are several areas which weaken Breen's work. The main weakness of this book lies in the fact that Breen is covering the entire history and makeup of a people in a mere 250 pages. Surely, for 15 years in the country, Breen can do better than that.As a consequence of this, Breen covers events and culture at a very fast pace. Despite my lack of detailed knowledge of Korea, I got the feeling that there was a risk of some generalisations being made here. If anyone were to rely on this book and, having read it, claim insight into Korea, I would take their claims very lightly indeed.The style is quite informal - too much so for me at times - and I came away from it yearning for more; more detail, more history, more views of people in the lower echelons of society and more insight into N. Korea, which despite the all-encompassing title, seemed to play second fiddle to the South where modern history was concerned.So, I'd recommend this as a general introduction but caution readers to treat it merely as a stepping stone to more detailed reading and your own experiences with this fascinating country.