As a college student, Chul-Woo Lim witnessed the Kwangju Uprising during which hundreds of prodemocracy protesters were massacred by the South Korean government of Chun Doo Hwan. Lim's desire to bear witness to this tragic event became one of the motivating forces behind his writing. One year after the massacre, Lim published his first short story, The Dog Thief.

The author's now celebrated quest, through narrative and photography, to capture today's built and natural environment and way of life along the Min Tong Line (Demilitarized Zone - DMZ) separating the two Koreas, is both a stunning literary and photographic achievement. Supported by 150 colour photographs, the book by one of Korea's renowned photographers who is also a well-known peace activist, takes the reader from Chulwon in the east to Kosung in the west, interweaving profoundly felt philosophical reflections on a wide variety of political, social and other issues, with detailed...