Introduction - What is History?
Prologue - Records, Science, Literature

Chapter 1: Herodotus and Thucydides, the Founders of Western History
Herodotus, the Street Storyteller | The Persian Wars and Histories | The Peloponnesian War and the Fall of the Greek World | The Simultaneous Birth of World History and National History | Fact and Imagination | The Power of Narrative and the Allure of History

Chapter 2: Sima Qian's Landscapes of People, Power, and the Age
The Historian's Elegant Revenge | Landscapes of the Ages Painted in Mechanical Form | Gaps in Historical Data and Literary Imagination | The Cosmos of History

Chapter 3: Ibn Khaldun, Writing the First History of Humanity
The First Encounter between Science and History | The Book of Reflections and the Introduction to History | The Rise and Fall of Dynasties and the "Assabiyya" Theory | The Shackles of Historians and Religion | Jesus Becomes King | The Unity and Division of the Islamic World | A Warning to Monarchs

Chapter 4, "History as It Was," Ranke
A born historian
The Age of the Professional Historian | Masters of "Breaking the Archives" | History and Theology | The Lifeless History of "As It Was"

Chapter 5: Marx's Law of History, Which Bypassed History
From Interpretation to Transformation | Materialism, Dialectics, and Historical Materialism | Communist Revolution and the End of History | Fukuyama's Variant of Historical Eschatology

Chapter 6: The Hard Journey of Nationalist Historiography: Park Eun-sik, Shin Chae-ho, and Baek Nam-un
Nationalist Historiography in the Age of Imperialism | Park Eun-sik's "A Comprehensive History of Korea" | From a Civilized Confucian to a Democrat | Record of the Struggle between Asia and the Pacific: "Ancient History of Joseon" | Shin Chae-ho, the Outstanding Historical Researcher | Kim Bu-sik's Historical Distortion | Baek Nam-un's Four-Stage Development Theory of Joseon History | Colonial and Materialist Views of History

Chapter 7 Edward H.
A historical theory book that became the history of the car
Why "What is History" is Difficult | Historians and Facts | All History is Modern History | Individuals, Society, and the Progress of History

Chapter 8: A History of Civilization: Spengler? Toynbee? Huntington
Spengler's "The Decline of the West" | "A Study of History," Encyclopedia of Civilizations | A Record of Challenges and Responses | Creative Minorities and the Internal and External Proletariat | The Clash of Civilizations | Fault Line Disputes

Chapter 9: Diamonds and Harari: Integrating History and Science
From Tribal Humans to Sapiens | A History Written by Scientists | The Cognitive Revolution and the Birth of History | The Agricultural Revolution: "History's Greatest Fraud" | Humans Aiming to Become Gods

Epilogue - The Power of Narrative
References
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Writer Yoo Si-min, a master of the times, asks, "What is history?"

In June 2018, Yoo Si-min came back with a new book.
Writer Yoo Si-min, who has worked extensively as an economist, politician, 'knowledge retailer', and recently as a broadcaster, has returned to history, the origin of his long-time reading and writing.
After receiving an enthusiastic response from readers in 2017 with "What is a State?", which explored the image of a just state and the role of its citizens, Yoo Si-min shifted his focus of study and devoured Eastern and Western history books, asking the question "What is history?" and searching for an answer.
『History of History』, which contains this intellectual exploration, is a study notebook on history made public by Yu Si-min and an invitation to read history together with readers.

■ Knowledge Reportage in Search of Historians and History Books that Made History

The writing of 『History of History』 began in the winter of 2016.
As Yoo Si-min faced the controversy over nationalizing history textbooks and the subsequent "Candlelight Revolution," he once again turned his attention to how historical events are recorded and transmitted.
He has repeatedly revealed his book of life, What is History? (Edward.
H. Carr) and returned to the original question, ‘What is history?’
In order to properly answer this question, I decided that it was necessary to deeply understand the origins of history, that is, the ‘history of history.’
I have been searching for and organizing representative historical books that have long been loved by readers as classics of history or have recently attracted attention.
From Herodotus's "History" and Thucydides' "History of the Peloponnesian Wars" to Yuval Harari's "Sapiens," I was immersed in the stories left behind by historians across 2,500 years.
A certain lineage and coordinates were drawn for how they wrote history and why they had to write it that way.

Although the subjects and methods of historical narratives were different, each great history book attempted to speak to us today in its own way.
Yoo Si-min believed that listening to those voices was the most honest way to approach history.
I thought that if I humbly followed the thoughts and feelings of historians, and the context and appeal of historical books, and captured them in reportage, I would be able to share with readers a "free" perspective on history.
In this way, 『History of Writing History』 is a “history reportage” that traces “history books and historians, the times in which they lived, and the stories of historical events they described” that remain in human history.

Yoo Si-min, a "public intellectual" who used to organize issues and draw conclusions with his sharp and blunt speech, avoids defining history or exalting his own opinions in this book.
Instead, we focus on telling the stories of historians and resonating with the messages and emotions underlying them.
It is a faithful 'history tour guide' that finds clues that will help us uncover what history is by "listening to and feeling the thoughts and feelings that great historians tried to convey to us" (p. 6).
In the summer of 2018, a new wind of history is blowing across the Korean Peninsula.
This book aims to provide readers with a time to reflect on their own attitudes toward reading and living history, along with "The History of History."


■ Yoo Si-min, Studying History anew! Reading "The History of History"

1.
“The history of history said to me, ‘Know thyself.’”

For Yoo Si-min, the question, “What is history?” is a question he has long pondered and a lifelong intellectual pursuit.
The reason he persistently explores history is probably to find a deeper answer to the question, 'How should we live?'
"The History of History," which extracts the meaning and method of reading and writing history from the lives of historians and their texts, can also be said to be a reflection on how people have interpreted, thought about, felt, and lived their lives.
In the face of life's changes and difficulties, history can be a reliable compass, and in particular, the study of history teaches us about the changeable (“the ephemeral”) and the unchanging (“human nature and the meaning of existence”) behind the present.
This book, which resonates with the emotions and expressions of history rather than being obsessed with the abstract definition or direction of history, is also Yoo Si-min's historical essay.


2.
16 historians and 18 historical books that “have made a distinct presence in the history of history”

"History of History" explores 16 historians from the East and the West and 18 historical books they wrote (10 of which are covered in more depth and detail).
The history books are divided into nine chapters in chronological order from ancient times to the present, and each chapter is sometimes read by one historian and one book, and sometimes by multiple historians and several books together.
I also reread books I have already read, and sometimes I overlap the voices of one historian with the thoughts of another.
The message I want to convey in each chapter is sometimes clear, and sometimes hidden.
However, all history (historians) seeks to write about the 'present' (modern history, contemporary history), and the author's position that history is a story and a conversation is constantly reaffirmed.

In 『History of History』, photographs created using the books read together as objects are included at the beginning of each chapter.
This is a collaboration with photographer Kim Kyung-tae (EH), who overwhelmingly brings the presence of the subject to life on a flat surface.
This brilliant observer makes history books seem like a firsthand experience.
All the books in the photo are either open or overlapping each other.
It seems to express a close connection with the details of reading history.
Also, on the cover, the history books form a forest, as if leading the reader to the crossroads and paths of history.
I hoped that each book would truly convey its "contemporaneity" (sense of the present) by breaking away from the image of historical classics as old and hackneyed.


3.
A friendly history study with Yoo Si-min!

As is well known, historical classics are not easy to read and digest on one's own.
In “History of History,” Yoo Si-min examines the main contents of each history book, the historical context of the time in which the book was written, as well as the subject and method of the narrative, and summarizes them in his own words.
Here, it checks the parts that should not be missed, and even acts as a guide to comfort and encourage even if you do not understand.
He personally demonstrates his love for history and the importance of studying it, and reveals his own method of studying history as he reads it.
In particular, due to the nature of this book as a 'reportage', it is inevitable that it will introduce and quote a considerable amount of original texts from historical books. To alleviate the limitations of space and the inconvenience of translation, Yoo Si-min personally undertook the excerpts, summaries, and translations.
Yoo Si-min's strength of kindly delivering books on a variety of topics, including the nation, modern history, and writing, is also evident in this book.


4.
History is a 'story' that conveys human emotions and thoughts.

What characteristics does Yoo Si-min envision as a "great history book"? He writes in the introduction, "I believe that great history can be literature, and that great history cannot but be literature" (p. 16).
History goes beyond simply recording facts to capture the thoughts and feelings of the people of the time.
Therefore, a good history book has the potential to resonate with new readers regardless of the era.
Throughout this book, Yoo Si-min expresses his thoughts and feelings as if answering questions from historians.
For example, Sima Qian's Records of the Grand Historian (Biographies) is highly praised as a book that exquisitely combines historical materials and literary imagination, reaching an unparalleled level (Chapter 2).
When reading the texts of Shin Chae-ho and Park Eun-sik, one feels regret for the arduous life journey and writing of these nationalist historians (Chapter 6).
The author's intellectual curiosity in reading the possibilities and limitations of human history is cautious yet active (Chapter 9).


5.
Studying History in the Digital Age: "The History of History" Now Available on Video

『History of History』 is a paper book written after reading a paper book, but it seeks to meet new readers in the digital age in various ways.
Dolbegae and Korea's only comprehensive content platform, Kakao Page, have jointly produced a special interview video with Yoo Si-min for the generation more familiar with mobile devices than books, and for the public who may find history difficult, and will provide it exclusively through the Kakao Page app for four weeks starting June 25th.
In this video, the author shares his thoughts and feelings while writing the book.