South Korea has long been overshadowed by Japan and China, but this small country is one of the great national success stories of the postwar period. From a failed tradition, ruined and partitioned by war, and sapped by half-century of colonial rule, South Korea transformed itself in just fifty years into an economic powerhouse and a democracy that serves a model for other countries. How is it able to achieve this, with no natural resources and a tradition of authoritarian rule? Who are the Koreans – and did they accomplish this second Asian miracle? Having accomplished it, what will they do now?

Here's the latest review of Korea: The Impossible Country in Oxford University magazine