Awakening the Hermit Kingdom

Book excerpt: Awakening the Hermit Kingdom: Pioneer American Women Missionaries in Korea gives a focused look at the long-ignored subject, the pioneer women missionaries to the Hermit Kingdom, as the early missionaries often called Korea. Based largely on private papers and mission reports of the missionaries, the author explores the life and work of the American women missionaries in the first quarter century of the Protestant mission in Korea. This book brings a new light to the history of Protestantism in Korea by revealing the identity and activities of the women missionaries, as well as the level of religious and social impact made by their presence and work in Korea.