Korea: A walk through the land of miracles

By Simon Winchester

‘Winchester’s style is dazzling and takes your breath away’ – Time Out

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. But Simon Winchester was sent there as a young reporter to report on a Hyundai shipyard – and what he saw there 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 warmth, humour and perception which have made Simon Winchester a New York Times best-selling author. Fascinating for its vivid presentation of historical and geographical detail, Korea: A Walk through the Land of Miracles is that rare book that actually defines a nation and its people.