"A true public service...a clear and unpretentious journalistic narrative of the past quarter-century's public and behind-the-scenes political and diplomatic efforts to solve the Korea question. It is a well-reported if unfinished story, well told by someone who has been a Korea-watcher for almost four decades.... Probing behind events to reveal the machinations of key politicians, generals, and bureaucrats, often re-creating the dynamics shaping their behavior, is the strength of this book.... Oberdorfer chronicles with impressive detail the pathos of the nuclear crisis and the freezing of North-South relations it precipitated. What emerges from "The Two Koreas" is a portrait of precisely why the peninsula is so volatile: two rivals competing for national legitimacy in a culture where compromise is tantamount to defeat.... Oberdorfer refrains from punditry and predictions, letting his powerful material tell the story."--"The Boston Globe" "[A] lucid, balanced, thoroughly credible account of the last 25 years on both sides of the armistice line."--"The New York Times Book Review" "Riveting.... "The Two Koreas" majestically fulfills Oberdorfer's goal of drawing attention to the role outside powers have played in the two Koreas' history."--"The Washington Post" "This truly important work will, without question, become the standard against which other books on modern Korea will be judged."--Donald P. Gregg, former U.S. Ambassador to South Korea "Oberdorfer is one of America's keenest analysts of the international scene."--James A. Baker III, former U.S. Secretary of State "[A] fine book.... [Oberdorfer's] gripping narrative should chasten our leaders and inform our citizenry about the continuing perils and costs of America's involvement with Korea. At a time when frivolous sensationalism dominates the media, ["The Two Koreas"] illustrates the virtues of a life given to honest, independent, inquiring journalism....s

Don Oberdorfer wrote for the "Washington Post" for twenty-five years, and is currently Chairman of the U.S.-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins' School of Advanced International Studies. He lives in Washington, D.C. Robert Carlin is a Visiting Fellow at the Center for International Security and Cooperation at Stanford University and former chief of the Northeast Asia Division in the Bureau of Intelligence and Research, U.S. Department of State. He lives in Washington, D.C.