Generals and Scholars: Military Rule in Medieval Korea Book

"An extremely valuable account of an important development in Korean history, the establishment of almost a century of military rule after 1170. This period bore some resemblance to the Kamakura shogunate of late twelfth-century Japan, but in the Korean case the military seized power in the capital and reduced the king to a figurehead while retaining civil officials in bureaucratic positions. This period of military rule illustrates how difficult it was for Korea to adopt the Chinese style of civilian rule in the face of countervailing forces, and how different Koryo dynasty customs and institutions were from thelater period of centralized, civilian control, enhanced kingship, and Neo-Confucian norms of social and political life. Professor Shultz's book constitutes an important landmark in the studies of this crucial period in Koryo dynasty history." --James Palais, University of Washington

"A thoroughly researched, comprehensive treatment of the highly controversial century of military rule in the mid-Koryo dynasty, ... [the book] overturns several widely accepted interpretations and gives us a fresh perspective for understanding how developments in this period informed the subsequent evolution of Korean political, social, and institutional history." --John Duncan, University of California, Los Angeles

Author Biography: Edward J. Shultz is director of the Center for Korean Studies at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa and is professor of history at the University of Hawai'i--West Oahu.