Three Thousand Ri

Five thousand years. Sixty chapters. One civilization that bent, burned, rebuilt, and refused to disappear.

Three Thousand Ri: An Epic History of Korea is a sweeping narrative history of one of the world's great civilizations, written for readers who want the past to move like a story.

From the shamanic kingdoms of ancient Gojoseon to the final twilight of the Joseon dynasty, David Corey carries the reader through war, statecraft, art, faith, invasion, reform, betrayal, and survival. This is the Korea of Queen Seondeok, King Sejong, Admiral Yi Sun-sin, Lady Hyegyeong, the Donghak rebels, Queen Myeongseong, and the last doomed gamble of the Korean Empire.

Meet Yi Sun-sin, restored to command after imprisonment and torture, facing a Japanese fleet with thirteen ships and the tide itself as his weapon. Stand with Sejong as he creates Hangul, a writing system elegant enough for scholars and simple enough for ordinary people to claim as their own. Follow the monks of Haeinsa, the soldiers of Goguryeo, the aristocrats of Silla, the scholar-officials of Joseon, and the people who endured every catastrophe their century could give them.

Written in the tradition of great popular historians, Three Thousand Ri is narrative-first, deeply researched, and honest about the complexity of the record. Drawing on primary sources including the Joseon Wangjo Sillok, the Samguk Sagi, the Samguk Yusa, Yi Sun-sin's Nanjung Ilgi, and Lady Hyegyeong's memoir, Corey reconstructs not only what happened, but what it felt like to live through it.

• Five thousand years of Korean history in sixty chapters
• Coverage from Gojoseon, the Three Kingdoms, Silla, Goryeo, and Joseon through annexation in 1910
• Ideal for readers new to Korean history and for history lovers seeking a single narrative foundation
• Especially useful for readers who loved Pachinko, Mr. Sunshine, or Kingdom and want the real history behind the drama

Korea is not a small history. It is a civilization of philosophers and warriors, exquisite art and catastrophic violence, stubborn memory and astonishing renewal. Three Thousand Ri is that story, finally told whole.