Three Tigers, One Mountain

Book excerpt: A lively tour through Japan, Korea, and China, exploring their intertwined cultures and fraught history, by the author of The Almost Nearly Perfect People. 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, Korea, and Japan—and they have a long history of turmoil and tension with one another. In this entertaining and thought-provoking travelogue, Michael Booth sets out to discover how deep the enmity really is between these three “tiger” nations and what prevents them from making peace. 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 crimes, continues to overshadow present relationships. An enlightening, entertaining and sometimes sobering journey, Three Tigers, One Mountain is an intimate and in-depth look at three fascinating countries and their cultures. Praise for Three Tigers, One Mountain “[An] enjoyable and information-packed travelogue. . . . [Booth] is a terrific observer of the region’s educated youth, who make him an optimist. . . . His deft, accurate summaries of the contentious history in each place work well.” —The Sunday Times (London) “An evenhanded, accessible, and pertinent work of Asian history and current affairs.” —Kirkus Reviews “Cheerfully digressive and intellectually undisciplined, this enthusiastic account will whet readers’ appetites for a more in-depth treatment of the political, cultural, and historical forces at play in the region.” —Publishers Weekly