How long does it take to read The Two Koreas?
Don Oberdorfer
The Two Koreas by Don Oberdorfer takes about 9 hours 6 minutes to read at 250 words a minute.
About 9 hours 6 minutes
A week or two of reading
First published 1997. 496 pages, about 136,400 words.
19 days at 30 minutes a day
Estimate based on 275 words per page.
At other speeds
| Slow, 150 words a minute | 15 hours 9 minutes |
| Average, 250 words a minute | 9 hours 6 minutes |
| Fast, 400 words a minute | 5 hours 41 minutes |
The page count is the median across 11 editions, so your copy may differ. How we calculate.
About the book
While the Cold War is over in the rest of the world, a potentially deadly confrontation continues on the bitterly divided peninsula of Korea, where two of the world's largest armies - along with 37,000 U.S. troops - face each other across the misnamed "demilitarized zone," ready to resume fighting on a moment's notice. Here the United States would be instantly involved in any new outbreak of violence. Below the dividing line, which was established by the great powers at the end of World War II, South Korea has developed a fractious democracy and one of the world's most vibrant economies. Above the line lies reclusive North Korea, the most closed society on earth, locked in its unique brand of communist Confucianism, militarily powerful but bereft of its former communist allies and unable to feed its people. The struggle between the two Koreas has repeatedly claimed the headlines of the world in acts of terrorism and heroism, showdowns over nuclear weapons programs on both sides of the lines, the sudden deaths of leaders, and historic turning points in the relationship with the outside powers of the United States, Japan, Russia, and China. Yet the news from and about contemporary Korea has been marked by a remarkable absence of historical context, background, or basis for understanding. The Two Koreas is the definitive and compelling answer to this gap.
Subjects: History, Korea, history, HISTORY / Asia / General, HISTORY / Asia / Korea, Korea (north), Politieke geschiedenis
