A Shijo Poet at the Court of King Sonjo The Pine River Songs is translation of Songgang kasa, Chong Ch'ol's (1536-1593) famous collection of-Korean songs. The translations are by Kevin O'Rourke, one of the foremost translators of Korean literature into English in the world today. Professor O'Rourke includes in the volume a biographical sketch of the Choson dynasty poet-official and a crifica1 analysis of his work. These essays provide a fascinating background to the life and work of this enigmatic man. Royal Inspector (governor of a province, personal secretary to the king, second minister general of the army - these are some of the positions held by Chong Ch'ol during a career that was punctuated by periods of voluntary retirement, dismissal and exile. He was by nature a brilliant but rather stubborn man. Loved by his friends, hated py his enemies, his life was marked by continuous controversy. Korean commentators traditionally regard Chong Ch'ol as the greatest exponent of the essay-poem genre called kasa- his kasa were immensely popular in his own lifetime - and they consistently place him among_ the great shijo poets. Readers of A Shijo Poet at the Court of King Sonjo: The Pine River Songs will be struck by the literary quality of the shijo, which are without peer in the history of the genre, and by the urbanity and cultiva1ion of the Kasa poems. These poems come alive for the first time in English versions that stand on their own as English poems.

First published in 2005. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

My Korea: Forty Years Without a Horsehair Hat is a cultural introduction to Korea, part memoir and part miscellany, which introduces traditional and contemporary culture through a series of essays, stories, anecdotes and poems. The book seeks to tell the reader all that he or she needs to know for a full and rewarding life in Korea or as a visitor passing through. Confucianism, Buddhism, relationships, everyday living, language and literature are comprehensively covered. Newcomers to Korea are provided with insights into daily life. They are told how to deal with people and the intricacies of honorific language, how to handle business dealings, how to be comfortable with social ranking, and how to react when they bump into the cultural wall.

American military special operations forces-Rangers, SEALs, and others-have become a well-recognised and highly respected part of our popular culture. But whom do these elite warriors look to in their times of greatest need: when wounded on the battlefield, cut off deep behind enemy lines, or adrift in the expanse of the world's oceans? They look skyward, hoping to catch a glimpse of their own personal guardian angel: a U.S. Air Force pararescue jumper (PJ) who lives, and sometimes dies, by the motto that others may live. Taking Fire provides an up-close look into the heroism and mystique of this little known segment of the Air Force Special Tactics community by focusing on one of the most dramatic rescues of the Vietnam War. It was June 1972 and Capt. Lynn Aikman is returning from a bombing mission over North Vietnam when his F-4 Phantom is jumped by an enemy MiG and shot down. He and his backseater Tom Hanton eject from their crippled aircraft, but Hanton lands near a village and is quickly captured by local militia. Badly injured during the ejection, Aikman lands some distance from the village, and there is a chance that he can be recovered if American rescuers can reach him before the enemy does. Now on the ground and drifting in and out of consciousness, Captain Aikman looks up and suddenly sees his guardian angel in the form of USAF Pararescue Jumper Chuck McGrath. As Sergeant McGrath is preparing to hook the downed pilot to a hoist line, he sees it fall to the ground. Hostile fire on the hovering Jolly Green Giant rescue helicopter has damaged the hoist mechanism causing the operator to cut the line. While circling A-1 Skyraiders strafe the militia to keep them away from Aikman and McGrath, the helicopter crew races to come up with a plan. It's getting dark, and they'll only have one chance. Taking Fire is an exciting, highly dramatic story of life and death over North Vietnam. Much more than a chronicle the events of 27 June 1972, the book gives the reader an up-close look at the little known world of the U.S. Air Force's elite aerial rescue force.

'Crisp, clear and quietly devastating' Guardian 'Excellent, authoritative, highly readable' Irish Times A succinct, expert guide to how we got to Brexit After all the debates, manoeuvrings, recriminations and exaltations, Brexit is upon us. But, as Kevin O'Rourke writes, Brexit did not emerge out of nowhere: it is the culmination of events that have been under way for decades and have historical roots stretching back well beyond that. Brexit has a history. O'Rourke, one of the leading economic historians of his generation, explains not only how British attitudes to Europe have evolved, but also how the EU's history explains why it operates as it does today - and how that history has shaped the ways in which it has responded to Brexit. Why are the economics, the politics and the history so tightly woven together? Crucially, he also explains why the question of the Irish border is not just one of customs and trade, but for the EU goes to the heart of what it is about. The way in which British, Irish and European histories continue to interact with each other will shape the future of Brexit - and of the continent. Calm and lucid, A Short History of Brexit rises above the usual fray of discussions to provide fresh perspectives and understanding of the most momentous political and economic change in Britain and the EU for decades.

Introducing change to higher education has always been a difficult and slow process. But over the last two decades, information and communication technologies have served to transform the traditional classroom and break down the barriers to education despite any insecurity educators have felt. Online education is now viewed as an opportunity. Critical Design and Effective Tools for E-Learning in Higher Education: Theory into Practice is a collection of stories that provide those who work in higher education a source of both information and inspiration. The stories are told by some 40 professionals from all across the English-speaking world, detailing their theoretical and practical perspectives on the impact technology has had and will have on the learning experiences of higher education graduates.

Kyu-bo Yi (1168–1241), the greatest of the classical Korean poets, was born into a very turbulent period of history, when the Koryo kingdom was threatened from the north by barbarians and from within by the ongoing struggle for supremacy among the various factions. His poems, confessional and transcendent, describe moments of personal illumination in the course of everyday life.

Kyu-bo Yi (1168-1241), the greatest of the classical Korean poets, was born into a very turbulent period of history, when the Koryo kingdom was threatened from the north by barbarians and from within by the ongoing struggle for supremacy among the various factions. His poems, confessional and transcendent, describe moments of personal illumination in the course of everyday life.

When the twelve-year-old narrator of Our Twisted Hero moves from Seoul to a small provincial town and enrolls in the local school, he's confident that his big-city sophistication will establish him as a natural leader. But he immediately falls victim to a charismatic and corrupt class monitor, who uses fear and violence to keep the other students under his mysterious spell and to assure his own supremacy in the school's social hierarchy. The teacher, grateful to have such a well-behaved class, turns a blind eye to the monitor's abuse of power. As the narrator attempts first to seek justice and then to inspire his fellow students to revolt, he finds himself in a fierce battle not just for his rights, but for his soul. Soon he has set in motion an unexpected and unstoppable chain of events.

This riveting allegory, in the tradition of Lord of the Flies, starts as a simple power play within a children's classroom, but turns into a chilling tale about the lust for power and desperate need for acceptance that reside within us all.

Our Twisted Hero is Yi Munyol's first book ever to be published in North America. With its classically unadorned style and disturbing insights, it will astound readers unfamiliar with this extraordinary writer of world standing.