Byonghyon Choi's new book makes a key document of Korean and world history available in English in a volume that will be tremendously useful for both scholarship and teaching.
The Annals of King T'aejo: Founder of Korea's Choson Dynasty (Harvard University Press, 2014) translates an important excerpt from The
Veritable Records of the Choson Dynasty, a historical record that documents important events and historical developments from the first 472 years of the Choson period in Korean history, into English. Compiled in 1409 and completed in 1413, the annals of King T'aejo - founder of the Choson Dynasty - include a wealth of information about both domestic and foreign affairs in the fifteenth century. Readers will find much of interest to inform broader histories of weather, animals, clothing, envoy relations, architecture, urban studies, family studies, and much, much more. A substantial volume of more than 1,000 pages, the translation can also be usefully excerpted for the purpose of teaching courses at all levels on the histories of Korea, East Asia, early modernity, and global history, among others. Enjoy!