**From the author of The Almost Nearly Perfect People, a lively tour
through Japan, Korea, and China, exploring the intertwined cultures and
often fraught history of these neighboring countries.
**
There is an ancient Chinese proverb that states, "Two tigers cannot
share the same mountain." However, in East Asia, there are three tigers
on that mountain: China, Japan, and Korea, and they have a long history
of turmoil and tension with each other. In his latest entertaining and
thought provoking narrative travelogue, Michael Booth sets out to
discover how deep, really, is the enmity between these three "tiger"
nations, and what prevents them from making peace. Currently China's
economic power continues to grow, Japan is becoming more militaristic,
and Korea struggles to reconcile its westernized south with the
dictatorial Communist north. Booth, long fascinated with the region,
travels by car, ferry, train, and foot, experiencing the people and
culture of these nations up close. No matter where he goes, the burden
of history, and the memory of past atrocities, continues to overshadow
present relationships. Ultimately, Booth seeks a way forward for these
closely intertwined, neighboring nations.
An enlightening, entertaining and sometimes sobering journey through
China, Japan, and Korea, Three Tigers, One Mountain is an intimate and
in-depth look at some of the world's most powerful and important
countries.
