by PaulFrench (Author)
North Korea continues to make headlines, arousing curiosity and fear in equal measure. The world's most secretive nuclear power, it still has Gulag-style prison camps, allows no access to the Internet and bans its people from talking to foreigners without official approval. In this remarkable and eye-opening book, internationally best-selling author Paul French examines in forensic detail the history and politics of North Korea, Pyongyang's complex relations with South Korea, Japan, China and America, and the implications of Kim Jong-un's increasingly belligerent leadership following the death of his father, Kim Jong-il.
As an already unstable North Korea grows ever more unpredictable, antagonizing enemies and allies alike, North Korea: State of Paranoia delivers a provocative and frightening account of a potentially explosive nuclear tripwire.
Format: Paperback
Pages: 488
Edition: 2
Publisher: Zed Books
Published: 15 Aug 2015
ISBN 10: 1783605731
ISBN 13: 9781783605736
'An admirably clear and calm survey of one of the hardest countries in the world to report on.'
The Guardian
'Highly readable ... a solid overview of the country's modern history and how it became a failed state.'
Wall Street Journal
'Fascinating ... highly readable.'
Daily Telegraph
'An excellent introduction to the history and politics of North Korea.'
Hyeonseo Lee, North Korean defector
'Paul French writes with wit, eloquence and rare clarity about the complicated history of North Korea.'
Barbara Demick, author of Nothing to Envy: Real Lives in North Korea
'If much reporting on North Korea is hysterical, French has gone the other way ... [a book] written with a brisk confidence.'
Financial Times
`This is the most accessible starting point for anyone wanting to understand the hermit kingdom.'
Kerry Brown, professor and director, China Studies Centre, University of Sydney
'This clear-eyed overview to North Korea's modern history is packed full of fascinating detail.'
Louisa Lim, Beijing correspondent, NPR