This anthology of short stories by some of modern Korea's best-known writers reflects a rich variety of style and content, but they all manifest a shared core experience of Korea's trajectory from an inward-looking feudal Confucian state to Japanese colony culminating in the Pacific War, to battleground for the Korean War which inflicted horrific civilian casualties and a scarred landscape while leaving in its wake a still festering legacy of fraternal hostility, to a modernizing society that is struggling with economic success and democratization. While the intensity of these experiences and the relatively short period of time over which they occurred permeate these stories, one is most struck by the resiliency and vitality of their strong characters. Suh Ji-moon, a leading authority on contemporary Korean literature, has, with thoughtful selections, fluid translations, and helpful annotations, given the English reader the rare opportunity to experience the world of twentieth-century Korea. Three stories have been added to the original edition and are presented here for the first time in English translation.