Reddit reviews Sources of Korean Tradition, Vol. 1: From Early Times Through the 16th Century (Introduction to Asian Civilizations)
We found 4 Reddit comments about Sources of Korean Tradition, Vol. 1: From Early Times Through the 16th Century (Introduction to Asian Civilizations). Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
Columbia University Press
Joseon era:
I prefer the 'Review' more, but it might come across as a little dry. I feel that it does a fair job of discussing a number of topics related to the creation and running of the Joseon Dynasty, breaking the dynasty up into smaller components and then focusing on some areas (arts, military, cultural practices) within those smaller time frames. 'Sources' for me came across as more academic than 'Review' but you might enjoy it more. 'Sources' includes translations of primary sources, which is helpful, while 'Review' includes images such as paintings and maps.
General:
A comic book that goes into the 'making' of Korea and Korean culture. I have some reservations about this one but if you don't take it too seriously it can be a fun and easy way to get introduced to a number of topics related to Korea.
'Modern' Korea:
Lankov's book is a collection of newspaper articles he wrote entertaining subjects like the story of Korea's first automobiles, the introduction of the first telephones, etc. Easy to digest and they offer a glimpse of what society was like at each point in time; not a 'serious' book on Korean history, though. Neff's book was a chore to get through and it felt like no editing had gone into the book before publishing. If I'm not mistaken this also started out as a series of articles for one of the local newspapers; the transition from article to book did not go quite as well.
It's probably been 10 years since I read the books from Breen, Oberdorfer and Cummings, which makes it a little difficult to write a lot about them. Cummings I know gets criticized for being pro-North Korea in his writing, so that's something to keep in mind, while Oberdorfer I think was a correspondent living in Korea so may have a more 'eyewitness' approach to some of the events. Bird's book is a description of her travels in Korea during the Joseon period and I remember it being an interesting read. Not a balanced historical account by any means - and it obviously suffers from being written from an outside perspective at a time when ethnocentrism was more prevalent - but it may be an alternative to consider. You should be able to find a .pdf copy of that one online.
Haven't read this one, but I've seen others mention it in the past. It's another first-person account from Korea at the cusp of the 20th century, this time from the perspective of a medical missionary. Again, not an objective history book, but if you prefer first-person narratives it may at least be worth a look. A .pdf copy has been published online, this one by the University of Oregon.
Edit: One I forgot to mention, but which I've also heard is used in some English-language classes on Korean history/studies:
Sources of Korean Tradition is a good place to start, but it is a hefty 2 volume work.
http://www.amazon.com/Sources-Korean-Tradition-Vol-Civilizations/dp/0231105673/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1376104890&sr=8-1&keywords=sources+of+korean+tradition
Early Korean Literature by David McCann is a slimmer volume, and more accessible.
http://www.amazon.com/Early-Korean-Literature-David-McCann/dp/023111947X/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1376105046&sr=8-2-fkmr0&keywords=david+mccann+traditional+korean
These do not have anything on urban myths/paranormal. I'll PM if I find anything.
If you're up for reading translations of source material, seminal readings on the topics, and commentary by the authors, I highly recommend Sources of East Asian Tradition by Wm. Theodore de Bary (comes in 2 volumes). It's condensed version of anthologies that focus specifically on [Chinese] (http://www.amazon.com/Sources-Chinese-Tradition-Vol-1/dp/0231109393), Japanese, and Korean traditions, history, and philosophy.
Here are my recommendations for readings on Korean history. The list is somewhat heavy on Chosŏn (1392-1910) history mainly because it is my main research interest. If you are interested on more readings on Chosŏn history, feel free to shoot me a message.
Textbook Histories
Academic Monographs
Primary Sources