p.010 - A 40-Year Battle with a Mysterious Disease | Charles Darwin

: Darwin became a recluse in his early 30s due to an unknown illness.
The illness changed his life completely.
The theory of evolution was born out of that changed life.

p.050 - A Lifelong Struggle with Complexes | Hans Christian Andersen

: Andersen, who suffered from a lifelong need for recognition and complex between a duck and a swan.
The 160 or so fairy tales he left behind are also his own stories.

p.102 - Two Lives Facing Death | Paul Kalanithi and Jin Soo-ok

: A deep reflection and realization on the lives of two people who suddenly faced death one day, and the stories they left behind.

p.158 - We are all born to be happy.

: A beautiful journey of five bullying middle school girls and a teacher at the education welfare center.
A truly happy ending story that teaches us that we are born to be happy and that we have a responsibility to be happier.

Author's Note · 225 | Note · 228

Everyone faces a crisis in life at least once.

I did the same.
At that time, when I felt like I was trapped in a dark tunnel, I faced a question.
There are countless history books about systems, politics, kings, and great people.
Why is there no history book about the mind?
What is history to a person with a broken heart?

This book began with the questions I had at that time.
-In the text

“Wouldn’t it be nice to have a history book like this?”
A special historical story from Park Eun-bong, author of the million-seller "Letters on Korean History."

The first book that comes to mind when thinking of Korean history, a million-seller with over 4 million copies sold, the first reference book since the publication of the national social studies textbook, a book that has held the undisputed number one spot in the children's history book category for over 10 years, winner of the Baeksang Publishing Culture Award...
The records set by 『Letters on Korean History』, which celebrated its 20th anniversary this year since its first publication in 2002, are still valid.
As is widely known, the reason why Park Eun-bong, a historian who majored in Korean history and led the popular history book market in the 2000s, wrote “Letters on Korean History” was to tell it to his daughter.
"A History Book to Read When Your Heart is Aching" is a book that uses history to comfort the hearts of readers who grew up reading "Letters on Korean History" and the generation of parents who still read it with their children today.
The author believes that “knowing history makes you love people and understand the world,” and this is what he says about this book, “History Books to Read When Your Heart Hurts.”
“Wouldn’t it be nice to have a history book like this?”

"We are all protagonists of our own lives and history, and we have a responsibility to do our best to be happy."
A great journey to find a truly happy ending,
A history book for everyone living today

When you open the first page, you see something like a confession written in the place where a dedication usually goes.
However, the meaning and character of this book seem to be entirely contained within this short text.

Everyone faces a crisis in life at least once.
I did the same.
At that time, when I felt like I was trapped in a dark tunnel, I faced a question.
There are countless history books about institutions, politics, kings, and great men, but why are there no history books about the mind?
What is history to a person with a broken heart?
This book began with the questions I had at that time.
(In the text)

This book is divided into four parts.
This is the story of Charles Darwin, who wrote the theory of evolution while fighting a disease for 40 years with an unknown cause, treatment, and even name; Hans Christian Andersen, a world-renowned children's author who suffered from a lifelong need for recognition and complexes; Paul Kalanithi and Jin Su-ok, who faced death suddenly in the prime of their lives; and Mr. Go Jeong-won, a current librarian and reading activist, who worked with five youths as a teacher at an educational welfare center.
The author does not focus on their achievements or reputation.
We look into and trace the life crises and pain they faced, and the times they survived despite them.


Darwin, who continued his research even while fighting an unidentified disease that suddenly struck and destroyed his life with unbearable pain; Andersen, who sublimated the complex that tormented him while struggling with an unfulfilled longing throughout his life with the sole purpose of 'becoming famous' into his works; the story of Paul Kalanithi, widely known to us for his best-selling essay 'When Breath Becomes Air', and former MBC reporter Jin Su-ok after receiving a terminal diagnosis; and the story of five juvenile delinquents who intensively show the dark sides of today's Korean society, such as the gap between the rich and the poor, discrimination and injustice, and the division of the nation. The four stories may seem completely independent, but they once again confirm how closely individual lives are connected to society and history.
At the same time, in the stories of people from different eras and backgrounds, we find a common thread: 'a desperate desire to be happy despite everything.'
As Darwin once said in his theory of evolution, “All sentient beings are made to enjoy happiness.”

“No matter how much time seems to never end, it does end.
“Someday.”
A profound reflection on life and death, suffering and hope, and happiness.

"Healing Diary," published in November 2020 with the subtitle "A 9-year story of rebuilding a broken life," can also be seen as the starting point of this book, nearly 10 years after the author stopped writing.
What was history to the author as he endured the life crisis he faced one day and the long period of suffering that followed?
As the author goes through a time when even the history books he wrote were of no comfort, he asks himself questions.
“What is history to someone who is heartbroken?” Perhaps it was a natural progression that, after fully recording and revealing personal pain, it would expand into universal human emotions of life and death, pain and hope, and happiness.
Thus, this book is the answer to the question the author asked himself while passing through a long, dark tunnel: “What is history to a person with a broken heart?”
At the same time, it is a record of profound reflection, a positive affirmation that “if someone has done it, someone else can do it,” and a hopeful reflection that “just as anyone can get sick, anyone can get well,” through stories that have already become or will remain in history, whether great or ordinary, stories that share the commonality of history.

This book contains stories of people who have faced crises and difficulties in their lives.
It could be an illness or an accident, an internal psychological problem, or a conflict with one's family or the society to which one belongs.
Any kind of thing comes as absolute pain to the person involved.
I don't think suffering is relative. It's not just about past people, it's about present people.
Because history doesn't just deal with the distant past.
There are not only so-called great people or celebrities, but also people like your neighbors whom you might have encountered on an afternoon walk.
Everyone is a protagonist.
Although they do not appear in this book, I believe that all those who did not give up hope even in the midst of suffering are the protagonists of life and history.
(In the text)

『History Books to Read When You're Feeling Heartbroken』 appears relatively light compared to the author's previous books, but upon closer inspection, it is heavier than any other book.
As can be guessed from the over 200 meticulously organized notes, it took two years of reporting, interviews, and research.
Even so, I spent nearly a year writing and revising, conducting supplementary research and interviews. I sincerely hope, as the author wishes, that this book "can provide hope and courage to someone facing a harsh life crisis at this very moment."
“No matter how much time seems to never end, it does end.
“Someday.”

Author's Note

If history is the story of people's lives, it will contain not only success, joy, and delight, but also failure, pain, and tears.
Depending on where you focus your attention, many different stories can emerge.
This book, which seeks to answer the question I faced during my time of suffering, "What does history mean to a person in pain?", is a message I want to convey: "Wouldn't it be nice to have a history book like this?"
If it had been on the bookshelf at the time, I probably would have taken it out.

I hope that the stories in this book can provide hope and courage to someone facing a harsh life crisis right now. Even time, no matter how seemingly endless, will eventually end.
Someday.