John Duncan is professor of pre-modern Korean history and director of the Center for Korea Studies at UCLA.

"A work of profound scholarship and meticulous research, this book is an extremely important study on an important subject and should be indispensable reading for anyone interested in the history of the Koryo and Choson dynasties. It is also an excellent comparative study of aspects of East Asian history and institutions."

• List of TablesList of Genealogical chartsAcknowledgmentsIntroductionThe Koryo Political SystemThe Rise of a Central Bureaucratic AristocracyThe Yangban in the Change of DynastiesInstitutional Crisis in the Late KoryoReform and Dynastic ChangeThe ideology of ReformSome Final ConsiderationsNotesKorean Dynasties and KingsGlossary of Korean, Chinese, and Japanese TermsBibliographyIndex

John Duncan is professor of pre-modern Korean history and director of the Center for Korea Studies at UCLA.

"A work of profound scholarship and meticulous research, this book is an extremely important study on an important subject and should be indispensable reading for anyone interested in the history of the Koryo and Choson dynasties. It is also an excellent comparative study of aspects of East Asian history and institutions."

• List of TablesList of Genealogical chartsAcknowledgmentsIntroductionThe Koryo Political SystemThe Rise of a Central Bureaucratic AristocracyThe Yangban in the Change of DynastiesInstitutional Crisis in the Late KoryoReform and Dynastic ChangeThe ideology of ReformSome Final ConsiderationsNotesKorean Dynasties and KingsGlossary of Korean, Chinese, and Japanese TermsBibliographyIndex

John Duncan is professor of pre-modern Korean history and director of the Center for Korea Studies at UCLA.

"A work of profound scholarship and meticulous research, this book is an extremely important study on an important subject and should be indispensable reading for anyone interested in the history of the Koryo and Choson dynasties. It is also an excellent comparative study of aspects of East Asian history and institutions."

• List of TablesList of Genealogical chartsAcknowledgmentsIntroductionThe Koryo Political SystemThe Rise of a Central Bureaucratic AristocracyThe Yangban in the Change of DynastiesInstitutional Crisis in the Late KoryoReform and Dynastic ChangeThe ideology of ReformSome Final ConsiderationsNotesKorean Dynasties and KingsGlossary of Korean, Chinese, and Japanese TermsBibliographyIndex