[KS] New book: Witness to Korea 1945–47

[hoffmann at koreanstudies.com]

Dear colleagues,

We are pleased to announce the publication of _Witness to Korea 1945-47: 
The Unfolding of an Authoritarian Regime_, now available in print and 
PDF, with the Kindle eBook edition to follow shortly. The two major 
1940s texts at the center of this volume raise questions that, in the 
present moment, no longer seem safely distant. They speak with renewed 
force to the making, enabling, and export of authoritarian politics.

_Witness to Korea 1945-47: The Unfolding of an Authoritarian Regime_. 
Edited by Frank Hoffmann and Mark E. Caprio. Asia Research Series 1. 
Berkeley: Academia Publishers, 2026. viii, 542 pp., illustrations, 
notes, references, glossary and index. $29.95 paper; $39.00 hardcover; 
$29.95 Kindle eBook; $29.95 PDF.

An extensive preview and a request form for review copies can be found 
here:
https://academebooks.com/publications/witness-to-korea-1945-47/ [1]

The book brings together two major English-language eyewitness accounts 
of immediate post-liberation southern Korea: Richard D. Robinson's 
"Betrayal of a Nation" and Mark Gayn's "Korea" section from _Japan 
Diary_. Written between 1945 and the beginning of the Korean War in 
1950, these are among the most substantial, intense, and critically 
engaging descriptions of southern Korea in the immediate post-liberation 
period.

Robinson's academic essay and Gayn's journalistic diary each combine 
sharp political analysis with personal eyewitness observation, despite 
the differences in genre. Both examine the early Cold War politics of 
the United States Army Military Government in Korea (USAMGIK) and 
American support for right-wing Korean politicians. Both authors also 
came under attack during the McCarthy era. In today's terms, Robinson 
would be considered a whistleblower. To avoid court-martial by the U.S. 
Army in Korea, he fled to Turkey, where he bided his time for almost a 
decade; Gayn ultimately left the United States for Canada.

Robinson's "Betrayal of a Nation" is published here for the first time 
in its original English. Both Robinson's and Gayn's texts are 
extensively annotated, with notes that identify persons, organizations, 
events, and historical references that would otherwise remain obscure.

Three supplementary essays by the editors examine the lives of Robinson 
and Gayn during McCarthyism, the emergence of right-wing politicians and 
fascist youth groups, and America's culpability in the establishment of 
South Korea's first authoritarian regime.

Contents

Acknowledgments, viii

At Long Last -- _John Merrill_, 1
Richard D. Robinson and Mark Gayn: A Whistleblower and a Journalist -- 
_Frank Hoffmann_, 5

Source Texts
Betrayal of a Nation -- _Richard D. Robinson_, 53
Japan Diary: Korea -- _Mark Gayn_, 327

Democracy, Authoritarianism, and Culpability in Southern Korea: Gayn and 
Robinson on the U.S. Military Government -- _Mark E. Caprio_, 430
Sprechen Sie Deutsch? Fascism in Korea -- _Frank Hoffmann_, 462

References, 514
Image Credits, 527
Glossary and Index, 529
Contributors, 541

.............

With best wishes,

Frank Hoffmann and Mark E. Caprio
co-editors, _Witness to Korea 1945-47_

Links:
------
[1] https://academebooks.com/publications/witness-to-korea-1945-47/
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://koreanstudies.com/pipermail/koreanstudies_koreanstudies.com/attachments/20260426/58dca178/attachment.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: f6edb3a3.jpeg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 612596 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://koreanstudies.com/pipermail/koreanstudies_koreanstudies.com/attachments/20260426/58dca178/attachment.jpeg>