Korea: A Walk through the Land of Miracles is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand a nation that is shaping the modern world.
In the 1980s South Korea was still an enigma. Simon Winchester was sent there as a young journalist to report on a Hyundai shipyard — and what he saw made him determined to return, to take a proper look at how an economic miracle was shaped.
In a bookshop in Seoul he came across the story of a Dutch ship, the Sparrowhawk, which was wrecked off the southern tip of Korea back in the seventeenth century. The survivors had walked across the entire country to the capital, and Winchester decided that he would follow in their footsteps.
The story of his journey — part history, part travelogue — is written with the same warmth, humour, and perception that made Simon Winchester a New York Times best-selling author.
Praise for Simon Winchester:
‘Winchester’s style is dazzling and takes your breath away’ — Time Out
‘A marvellous storyteller’ — Spectator
‘Winchester loves details as a magpie loves treasure’ — The Times
‘In the last three decades Korea itself has risen to a previously unimaginable prominence in the world…Simon Winchester’s book has held its place on the very short list of essential long-form travelogues of modern Korea’ – Los Angeles Review of Books
Simon Winchester studied Geology at Oxford University. He is the author of Atlantic, A Crack in the Edge of the World, Krakatoa, The Map That Changed the World, The Professor and the Madman, The Fracture Zone, Outposts, Prison Diary and In Holy Terror among many other titles.
